Those Who Fight
by Demica Webb Kempton
Summary: Christie left Spira to search for more purpose in her life. She arrives in Gaia and has to adjust to this new world as it is suffering greatly, something she cannot stand by and watch. She knows what she could get herself into; she's saved Spira twice, saving Gaia should be nothing new for her.
1. Those Who Fight

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy. I only own my OCs.

Contains violence, swearing, and sexual references.

 **Those Who Fight**

I knew the portal had shut behind me the moment I had come the whole way through. I felt the rain hitting myskin, ice cold rain at that, and looked up to see the dark clouds above, knowing the rain wasn't going to let up soon. I adjusted the bag strap and walked out of the alley.

The streets were kind of quiet, a number of people walking about, minding their own business, trying to get out of the rain. I looked both ways down the street, a couple of cars drove past but I didn't notice any taxis, or anything marked like that. Shit, readjusting to modern life is... going to be something.

I turned left and started walking down the street. I looked for any cafes or bars that were open. I didn't even know what time it was. If I could get my bearings I would be fine. I wasn't even concerning myself with finding Angel; I wasn't letting that be my priority. I had to know more about this place and what I landed myself into. Odd this was I didn't regret my decision immediately; I'd done this of my own volition and I felt like I had control. It felt liberating, in a way.

I found a bar and peered inside the windows quickly. Quiet, people eating rather than drinking. Still early in the day then, that's good. I went inside to get out the rain. A man, one of the employees, noticed me come in. I brushed my hair cross my face a bit more to cover my burn scars.

"Caught bad, huh?"

"Yeah, not exactly dressed for the right weather," I replied, walking to the bar.

"You're not kidding. You looked better dressed for Costa del Sol. The weather still good there?"

"Can't complain," I assumed Costa del Sol was like Besaid and just went with it. "Thought I'd get a change of scenery for a bit; first time visitor. Really forgot to check the weather."

"Yeah just because Costa del Col's nice most of the year don't mean you get it everywhere else," he said. "You want anything?"

"Coffee would be nice," I looked around the bar as I went into my bag, hoping that I had money. Stupiod move; I just assumed I had money in it. I did have gil in a purse, yeah, but did they use gil here?

"Five gil."

Guess they do.

I drank my coffee and looked around the bar again. I noticed a television up in the corner, going on about the news. I squinted to see the time. Five past one in the afternoon. November eighteenth, two thousand and seven. Fucking hell it was a completely different time from Besaid. I looked at the newscast again, trying to hear it over the chatter of the bar. It was local, talking about the ongoing reconstruction of Sector Six. I wish that had meaning to me but it didn't. One word did catch my attention: Shinra. The Shinra company. It was the only lead I had and maybe I'd get some answers there.

"Hey," I got the employee's attention. "Where's the closest place to buy clothes? I'm really not familiar with the place."

"Eh there's a couple of places down the road. Keep going straight down and you start hitting all the retail places," he said. I nodded in thanks and got up to leave. "You have a good day."

"You too."

I just kept walking down the road like he said and, sure enough, I hit the shops eventually. I kept my head down and avoided looking people in the eye. I had to remember that no one knew me here and would probably be freaked out at a woman with burns across her face, neck and hands.

I jumped into one of the shops and started looking for new clothes to blend in better. Andra had put a lot of gil in my bag so at least it gave me some wiggle room. I searched for a while and tried stuff on. I was looking for something sturdy and practical for movement. I found a lovely pair of warm leggings with some silver swirl decal at the knees, a grey jumper with odd sleeves, I think both of them were meant to be three-quarter length but the right stopped at the bicep, and it was a little low cut put I found a midnight blue scarf to cover my chest up. As well as a black jacket. I got new underwear to help support everything better, plain, nothing fancy, and in another shop I found knee high black boots with fur lining around the top. They were good for running about and were supported at the bottom. They were ideal.

Once I'd gotten everything I started walking to the train station, after getting directions, and headed to the toilets to change into the clothes I bought. I put my old clothes in my bag but not before checking what Andra had actually put in it.

Not a whole lot for a big bag. Bottle of water, purse with my money in it, my hand wraps, and the damn silver orb that had Angel's power inside it. Obviously I had to keep that about, but fuck knows when I actually had to give it to her. If I even should give it to her. At this point it wasn't on my lost of priorities. I had to go to the Shinra building and would figure it out from there.

I came out and looked at the map and train board to see where it was I was meant to be going. The Shinra company building was in a place called Sector Zero, while I was in Sector Eight. I just paid for an all day pass and got on the next train that was heading towards Sector Zero. I headed to the front carriage and sat down, keeping my head low and acting like I was sleeping so no one would see me face.

I thought about what I planned to do once I reached the Shinra building. I needed to familiarise myself with this world now, build up an alibi, keep myself out of trouble for now. As soon as I learn about this world I can build up a story, but how advanced is this place? It certainly exceeds Spira by miles, and I felt a little out of touch because I hasn't experienced modern technology like this in years. I'm sure I can try talk my way out if I say it with enough conviction. Here's hoping anyway.

My thoughts were cut short when red lights started flashing in the carriage. I shot my head up and looked around. No one else really seemed to take notice or care. Okay, maybe that's normal?

No, the alarms ringing were definitely not normal. As soon as they sounded everyone started to look around in a panic, or were trying to keep there cool.

"Warning. Type A security alert. Unidentified passenger confirmed. A search on all train cars will be conducted." The automated voice repeated that another time as the alarms were blaring. I looked around, seeing if there were any train staff about. I had to think fast. Shit, what do I do? "Unidentified passenger located in Carriage One. Preparing for Lockdown."

I saw everyone get up and start moving towards the next carriage. I got up and started moving down too. They must not have wanted to be stuck in the locked train, but I really didn't want to and I pushed past some people. Once I got to the next carriage I kept walking down. Almost everyone was standing and moving about, trying to get through the train. They didn't want to be stuck in a lockdown and be searched, I get that. Moving through the trains was all I could think of doing.

The alerts were getting more frequent and they were tracking me, knowing I was moving to the rear of the train. As I got to the last carriage I noticed the train was starting to slow down. I watched out the windows and tried to figure out an escape route. We were in a tunnel, and I saw some doorways pass us by. I pushed past people and went to the doors. I focused myself, taking a deep breath, and felt a tingling in my hands. Balling them into fists, I threw a punch into the door, people gasping around me, and put my hands through the gap I'd made, forcing the doors open. I leapt out as the train was still moving, rolling across the ground and lauching myself up, running in the opposite direction the train had headed in.

When everything was silent in the tunnel I realised just how fucked I was at that moment. I was almost caught by police, I launched myself off a train and was now walking down the train tracks to figure out where the fuck I was. I took a deep breath, kept calm, and walked alongside the tracks, annoyed at myself for being stuck without a plan.

I stopped at what I guessed was some sort of checkpoint, lasers crossing over the width of the tunnel. I sighed and looked around for a door or something that would give me an out. I noticed a vent that had no grating over it and looked down. It was spacious, but I could see the bottom. There were no doorways and I wasn't going backwards. I didn't have much choice; I made sure my bag was secure on me and went into the vent, feet on either side, slowly descending to the bottom.

The vents lead me out to what looked like maintainence walkways underneath the city. They were quiet but I kept an eye out for anyone who might see me. I followed the walkways to a flight of stairs. I looked at the signs, noticing something intersting: going up would take me to the Upper Plate,but going down would lead me to the Lower Plate and city below. A city below? There was a city on top of another city?

I could go back up but I would get caught by the security most likely. If I headed down I could keep my head low and figure out a plan easier. It was a no brainer for me. I also wanted to see what this lower city looked like. This world was already something else and I haven't even left one city yet.


	2. The City Slums

**The City Slums**

After going down seemingly endless flights of stairs I hit the bottom. I knew the door would be locked so, with enough force, I broke the lock and emerged outside. My first impression of the lower city was that of shock; it was crowded, dirty, and dark. Looking up I could actually see the underbelly of the upper city cloaking the buildings below. The place looked so... unclean. There was actually a thick smog hanging in the air, thousands of lamps lit up to try mimic the sun, clocks seemed to be everywhere to keep people aware of the time of day. It was not a good first impression and, after seeing the upper city first, made me feel sad that people above could live knowing people were suffering below them, literally below them. This seemed to be the city's basement level.

I was still in Sector Eight it looked like, so I guessed that the cities were mirrors to one another. I didn't have much of a plan other than to lay low and hope I wasn't caught by any security force. I still had to watch since I was unfamiliar with this entire place; I wasn't keen on getting myself in over my head. I think travelling far from the Sector I had been caught out in would help cover my tracks. I started looking for signs to the next Sector over, walking towards Seven.

I didn't realise how much of a sorry state the place was in until I walked further and further through the Sector. People were sitting out on the street begging for money, shuffling with their heads down as I walked past, some people giving me weird looks and double taking, making me cover my face. I knew it was the scars; it had been years since I had felt so aware of them. I felt a little bit self-conscious for the first time in ages.

I continued following the directions to Sector Seven when I heard people over the white noise of the crowd. It was a group of them, a bunch of guys, three bigger men had the other man backed against a wall. They were threatening him, I heard something about a Don and brides. My first thoughts were to help the guy out but I needed to stay low. This would probably attract attention. I couldn't just leave the guy struggling though. Those guys would do serious damage to him. I sighed and started walking down the alley.

"Look, I'm sorry. You won't see me near the Inn again, okay?" The guy being threatened said as I approached.

"Yeah, we know. We're gonna make sure of that," One of the bigger guys said. The one being cornered looked past them and to me. The look in his eyes was just begging for me to help him.

"What are you doing?" The three men looked at me, smirking and laughing a bit when I spoke.

"None of your busines lady. Get lost," one of them said. I didn't move.

"How about you leave him alone?"

"What? This your girlfriend? Need her to beat up the big scary men for ya?" Another taunted the guy. I rolled my eyes and refused to budge. "Look, you get outta here before you mess up that... well, mess it up more." Again I just didn't move. "Well, you had your warning."

One of the men approached and grabbed my shoulder. Without a second thought I turned, grabbed his arm with one hand, and punched his shoulder out the socket. The other two swung their fists and I ducked, kicked their shins, and got up and kicked one in the face and grabbed the other, throwing him against the wall. The first one who came for me I gave a hard kick to the knees to be sure. I helped the guy up and hurried him out the alley and towards Sector Seven.

"Holy shit! I didn't... you just... thank you so much I thought I was done for!" The guy gasped out when we reached the edge of the Sector.

"It's nothing," I said, checking that they hadn't followed. Not sure if they even could. "You okay? You're not hurt?"

"Nothing that won't heal," the guy caught his breath and looked at me, trying to be polite and ignore the scars. "Is there anyway I can repay you?"

"It's fine; I just did the right thing," I shook my head and was about to leave but he was insistent.

"No, it's not everyday you find a decent person in Midgar, let alone the slums," he said. "There has to be someway I can return the favour?" I thought about it. Honestly I just didn't want him to accidentally get involved if any security force caught up with me. I didn't know how brutal they were.

"Can you give me directions to any inns or the like in Seven?" I asked. He was more than happy to oblige and told me how to get to a small hostel in the Seven slums, along with directions to a bar called Seventh Heaven that he was at frequently. He was planning to avoid there for the next couple of days and law low in Eight so those guys didn't catch him again. Guess that made two of us. I decided to head to the bar first; I was hoping there was a television there so I could see if any news about the trains had appeared yet.

The bar itself wasn't that big, well it was pretty spacious but cramped from the amount of people. I noticed a small table in the corner and sat myself down, watching everyone move about and chat to each other. There were some people who were already drunk at this time in the afternoon but I could hardly blame them. I noticed a television screen above the bar, nowhere near as high tech as the one on the upper Sector, broadcasting the news. As I expected it was talking about sudden train delays. I couldn't hear what the reporter was saying but they showed no footage or pictures of me. So at the moment I was safe. Still I knew I'd probably get found eventually. I had to figure out what to do before then.

I stayed at that little corner table for an hour or so, watching people go in and out before it started to become quieter. I kept my eye on the news, waiting for something about the trains to come up but it never did. Maybe they wanted to keep it quiet, I couldn't be sure. I still had the feeling that the news would be out, if not already by word of mouth, or police would come looking for me if they weren't already.

When I looked away from the screen I caught eyes with the woman tending the bar. She was a beautiful looking woman with deep brown eyes, and long dark brown hair. I gave her a quick smile since she was looking right at me. She walked out from behind the bar, coming towards me. I was stunned at the length of her legs, probably more accuntuated by her short skirt. I kept eye conatct with her when she came over to my table.

"Hi, can I get you anything?" She asked, her voice soft and polite.

"Um, just water's fine," I answered. She definitely noticed that I had been there for a while and not ordered a thing. I knew it must have looked suspicious. She left and came back with a glass.

"Are you okay? You look a little nervous?" I could tell she was tyring to guage me. I couldn't blame her; she probably didn't want trouble in her bar. I took a sip of water after thanking her.

"Just... ran into some trouble on accident," I answered. "I've not been in Midgar for long, so it's put me on edge, to say the least."

"Believe me so much trouble happens down here it'll just be a drop in the ocean," she told me with certainty. I was inclined to believe her since she had definitely been here longer than me. "You have a place to stay? There's a hostel just down the road."

"I'll look into that. Thanks," I trailed off, realising I didn't know her name.

"Tifa."

"Christie. Thanks again."

I stayed in the bar for a little while longer before leaving to check out the hostel. Like everything else in the Sector it seemed cramped and busy. They had some space but it wasn't much. As long as I said somewhere to bed for the night I was okay. I just stayed there for the rest of the day, trying to plan out what on earth I should do. How long would it take for me to get back to the Plate? Where would I get ID from? How do I explain away the fact I don't have any? I knew I'd figure out something and everything will fall into place. Right now going to the Shinra building was my safe bet for directions, but that was the end goal. How and when I'd get there was another matter. I'd figure out something.


	3. Setting the Path

**Setting The Path**

A week passed without incident in the slums. I kept my head low, my eyes open, and nothing had come of the train incident. I went to the Seventh Heaven bar a couple of times and started to talk to the owner, Tifa, more. She was geniunely nice woman, very helpful and told me all about the Slums and what to look out for. I got to know her a little more, but not enough to tell her I needed help getting back onto the Plate. I picked my words carefully so I was telling her things but not enough in case people started looking for me. It wasn't that I didn't trust her; I didn't know who to trust right now. I didn't have enough information on this world.

Every so often, whenever a news report came on involving the Shinra Company, some people would sneer, groan, or just outright slander the company for various reasons from job loss, pollution, to outright killing the planet. I did take their words on board; this place hadn't become a slum for no reason. People were struggling here just to live. The fact that some of them had went their whole lives without seeing the sun saddened me. Having lived in Besaid and seeing the sun almost every day, to now having a giantic metal roof over me every waking hour was a shock to my system. Part of me was glad I'd come down here and seen the place with my own eyes. I wanted to help and there must have been people who were like minded. There had to be. It was one way to learn more and I think I was in the clear about the train incident.

I walked through the slums to one of the old gyms to get some practice in. Between there, the hostel, and the bar, I walked the streets and tried to listen in to people to find out more about the world. I couldn't use Sin's Toxin or amnesia as an excuse; I just had to be careful with my questions to blend in.

As I was walking down the streets I had the horrid feeling that I was being followed. It happened so suddenly but I trusted my gut on this. I stopped as if I was going to cross to the other side of the street and glanced both ways in case of sudden vehicles appearing from no where. To my right the man stood out as a threat but no one paid mind to him. He was wearing a black suit, too clean for the Slums. I didn't look directly at him because I knew he was looking at me. I crossed over and kept walking down the road, turning a corner and keeping to busy areas.

I felt like he was still following me but didn't look back to check. If he knew I knew he was following me it could have ended badly. I didn't want anyone to get hurt around us, either. I turned another corner, knowing there was an alley nearby. It was a risk but if I could slip in fast enough I might be able to gain distance, or even lose my pursuer. I took a deep breath as I got closer to the alley. I didn't look back and side stepped into the alleyway, breaking into a sprint a few steps inside.

I knew I'd made a mistake and gotten myself trapped when I saw another man in a suit at the other end of the alley, just a few feet away from the exit. Same suit as the other man, more unkempt, and the brightest head of red hair I'd ever seen. He was acting like he hadn't noticed me until I slowed to a quick walk. I was a few feet away from him when he turned his head.

"In a hurry, slick?" He asked. His eyes were scanning me over for weapons, I saw them shifting around my body. I said nothing and was just about to pass him when he darted forward, grabbing me and shoving me against the wall, twisting my arm behind me. I didn't try to fight back, gauging his next move. He had a tight grip on me, for being lanky he was strong. The other man arrived and the one that had me against the wall gave a short laugh. "See? Told you this would be easy."

"Good work, Reno," the other man said. He then turned his attention to me. "I assume you're aware of why we're here?" I didn't answer him, only kept my eye contact with him.

"Better answer him. We've not got time to be playing games," the red head, Reno or whatever he was called, said to me. I still didn't answer them. "Hey Tseng, what do you want to do?"

"We'll take her to the headquarters. You can answer our questions there."

As soon as I felt Reno's grip loosen ever so slightly I lifted my foot against the wall and pushed back. I then pulled my body forward and flipped him over me, ducking under Tseng's punch and backing away. I channelled a small piece of my life force and threw a powerful kick into Tseng, then elbowed Reno in the gut before swinging my arm back to hit his side and knock him down. I didn't have much time; I ran out of that alley as fast as I could.

Again I never looked back I just ran as fast as I could go. My first thought was to get to the train station, not to catch a train but to dive into the train graveyard and lose them there if they were behind me. I didn't listen to noise, or people, I just kept my eyes forward as I tried to remember the way to the trains.

At the first opening I ducked into an old train and climbed through, slipping through any nook and cranny I could find. I clambered over wreckage, knocked stuff over behind me to gain distance, I did everything I could think of to get away. I ducked into another train and hid in an utterly wrecked part and crawled in, holding my breath. Guess that was another good thing about deciding to keep up Blitzball practice. I didn't peer out and kept my ears open, focusing on any noises or voices. I kept as still as possible, feeling my heart pound in my chest.

"She must still be here somewhere," I heard I think Tseng, or whatever his name was, say. He was faint, so a bit away.

"Well she ain't jumping off these trains any time soon, that's for sure," the other, Reno, said. "She's got some bite to her, think we'll need to call Rude in?"

"It won't be necessary," Tseng said.

Their voices faded away but I waited a couple of minutes more before daring to check out if the coast was clear. I let out a breath, taking another deep one and holding it. I moved slowly through the wreckage, looking around me for any signs of the men in suits. The place was so vast and a lot of places looked the same. I kept creeping through trains and hid again in a broken carriage underneath old seats.

"Are you hiding from the bad men?" I looked over and was surprised to see a group of three kids: two boys and a girl, none of them older than ten. They were huddling a little further down the train.

"Yeah... and I'm kind of lost," I told them. "You think you can help me get out of here?"

"Sure. But you gotta stay here until we say so, got it?" One of the boys said. I nodded in agreement and the three of them ran out of the train carriage.

* * *

A lot of time passed, I don't know how long, while I lay there hoping the kids would come back and help me. I kept listening out for them until, eventually, I heard several footsteps getting closer and closer.

"They're gone!" The girl said, ducking down to look where I was hiding. "You can come out now." I crawled out from under the seats and gave the kids a smile.

"Thanks, you have no idea how much this means," I told them.

"So why were the after you?" One of the boys asked. "Did you do something bad?"

"I jumped off a train on the Plate," I told them, figuring the bizarre truth would work better than anything I could make up. "So, can you show me the way out?"

"You were on the Plate?" The other boy asked, filled with curious wonder as they started to show me they way back. "What's it like?"

"Busy, tall buildings, the sky looks lovely though," I told them, not really recalling much else from my time up there. "Do those men come round the Slums often?"

"No, but when they do bad things happen," the girl said. "My mom says people don't come back when they're around, so she says to hide if we see them." So they were like bogeymen of some sort.

We arrived back at the train station in no time at all. The kids must have played around there often, even if it was pretty dangerous. I was starting to think there really wasn't a safe place in the lower sections of Midgar at all. I couldn't wrap my head around the idea of someone letting a place get like this, let people live like this. This was no way for anyone to live, let alone kids.

When they took me back to the train station I gave them some money as a thanks; they needed it more than I did. When they had run off I started to go through my options. There was a chance those men would come after me again, potentially more, at any moment. They probably knew the routes I walked, where I went, how long I stayed in places. I wasn't safe here any more; I needed to get out the Slums.

For what I thought would be the last time, I went to the Seventh Heaven. It was quiet for its usual time now, which was good but I kept my eyes out for anyone who looked suspicious. I went straight to the bar where Tifa was. I think she noticed the worry in my eyes.

"Hey you okay?" She asked me, looking around in case anyone was in earshot.

"No, I had some people come after me, I need to get out of the Sector," I said. "It was... it was two guys in black suits. They followed me and cornered me, I just barely managed to get away from them."

"They didn't follow you here, did they?" Tifa asked with noticeable panic in her voice.

"I've been hiding in the train graveyard for who knows how long," I assured her. "Why are they really dangerous?"

"Are you serious?" She said in disbelief. "You just got away from Turks and you're asking if they're dangerous?" She looked around her customers again and gestured me to follow her. "In the back," I followed her into the back part where the small kitchen and storage area was. She closed the door and checked the back door too. When she was done she turned to me, leaning against the counter. "What did you do?"

"I jumped off a moving train because I didn't have ID on me," I told her. She squinted her eyes a little, not sure to believe me. "I was on the Plate when it happened. I didn't think and I didn't think it'd send Turks after me." I was trying to just work off her reactions to whatever the Turks were but I couldn't help notice her analysing my face a little more than I felt comfortable with. "Yes, Tifa, I know the burn scars look suspicious but I swear all I did was jump the train."

"What? No, no I'm not looking at the scars I... I was trying to see if if there was Mako in your eyes," I'd heard the term Mako a lot during my stay here: the concentrated life force of the planet used as an energy source. I remember, a long time ago, when Shinra left the Gullwings to pursue that research. Rin actually funded him. I couldn't believe they had found a way to do it. And just how damaging it was. "I thought you might have been ex-Soldier and that was the reason they sent Turks after you."

"I'm not ex-Soldier. Tifa I'm honestly not sure why they sent Turks after me," I chose to opt out of telling her that I'd broken the train door open with my bare hands and leapt out. I didn't think she'd believe me. "But I need to get out before they find me again."

"Christie, if Shinra sends the Turks after someone... normally you never see that person again," I stared at her with no response. So Shinra commanded the Turks, as well as leaving the people down in the Slums with no help? What had Shinra become?

I leant against the counter and thought about my options, which were running slim. The Turks only seemed interested in capturing me, not killing me, but they wouldn't stop until the job was done. I really wasn't interested in being captured by Turks or Shinra anyway, so it meant I could be on the run from them the rest of my time here. I looked at Tifa, knowing I really only had two options: run or fight.

"Okay, so how do I fight Shinra?" I asked. Tifa did another check of the doors quickly before answering my question.

"There is a group, here, that's fighting against Shinra. Our main goal is to stop them destroying the planet, but if you want to fight Shinra... we're small, we're hurting for help, so if you let me talk to Barrett I'm sure he'll let you in," I knew Tifa was taking a big gamble here; with me being wanted by Shinra and asking me to join the rebellion. It meant I wouldn't be leaving Midgar any time soon either but I'd be helping. Hopefully.

"Okay. I'm in."


	4. Avalanche

Avalanche

Even though I was openly concerned about the Turks coming after me again it had been oddly quiet. I hadn't seen them at all, or any sort of Shinra enforcement since that one incident. I still felt the need to watch my back everywhere I went. I hated feeling paranoid and uncomfortable but, for now at least, I had somewhere that felt safe that I could go to whenever I needed.

Tifa filled me in on the group she was in: Avalanche were self-declared protectors of the planet, their main goal to stop Shinra's use of Mako Reactors to draw upon the life source of the planet as energy. They weren't a big group, and had only just found their footing, but they seemed to be incredibly serious about opposing Shinra.

Apart from Tifa there were four other members: Barrett, Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge. Tifa introduced me to Barrett later on the day I had ran from the Turks. He was an incredibly tall man, almost the height of Kimahri actually, built like a tank, and an amputated right arm that was replaced by a gun rather than a prosthetic. I could see he didn't have to try hard to be intimidating, not that I actually felt that way towards him. He asked me why the Turks were after me, where I was from, why I was in Midgar. I was honest in that I had no clue why they were after me, but I told him about bailing off the train when I had no ID. When asked why I had no ID, I told him that I'd come into Midgar with nothing but the clothes on my back and what I had in my bag, which was nothing interesting. It was a half-truth, enough for Barrett to get off my case about it. The deal was that, as long as I pulled my weight, I could stay.

Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge all seemed pretty welcoming to the new addition. They were nice enough to me, obviously wary since I was a complete stranger with an incomplete back story. I saw no point in keeping to myself so I talked with everyone and got to know them, though I still gave vague answers when they asked about details of my past and where I was from and what I did. One night I overheard them talking, saying I looked like I was from a place called Wutai. I didn't use that as an alibi, knowing I'd probably trip up on myself.

Not long after agreeing to join, I ended up meeting Barret's daughter Marlene. She was only four, shy, but she was absolutely adorable. She was frightened by the scars on my face and kept away from me at first, until I eventually managed to strike up a conversation with her about her drawings. She came around to me, still quite quiet, but at least she felt more comfortable around me.

The last person Tifa introduced me to was a friend of hers she found in Midgar about a month or so before I arrived. He wasn't a part of Avalanche,rather he was looking for work and Tifa said they could use his help. Cloud was a former member of the Soldier group that Tifa had mentioned, and carried a massive sword on his back. He acted pretty distant towards me and the rest of us, only acting slightly warmer to Tifa; they'd known each other as kids and were from the same town. Since he kept everyone at arm's length we didn't talk a lot.

It was now the beginning of December, late night on the eighth, when Avalanche was ready to act out their plan. Oh course we'd all been briefed about the plan beforehand but, personally, I couldn't join them. The plan was to plant a bomb in a Mako Reactor and make it explode. It would be huge, it would be messy, it would mean a lot of casualties. There was some arguing involved, but I stood my ground and told Barrett that I couldn't go through with it, but wasn't in a position to stop him from doing it. He was the leader, he had the final call and I knew he had no interest in being convinced otherwise. Since I'd been helpful around the bar with Tifa, I stayed with her and Marlene.

I was noticing Tifa looking at the clock at the night went on. It was half past midnight and the she was going to close the bar at one. She was serving drinks out front while I kept in the back, washing glasses and the like. I had checked on Marlene earlier, hoping she was sleeping even though Tifa and I had promised to wake her when her dad got back. I dried the last of the glasses and headed out to the bar to put them away. The place was busy as normal, filled with drunken folks and the usual like. I put the last of the glasses away and watched as Tifa looked at the clock again.

"They'll be fine," I told her, getting her attention. "They know what they're doing. They'll be back soon."

"No, it's not that," she frowned, wiping the counter down again. "I'm worried about them fighting. You've seen them; Cloud and Barrett don't usually get along. Cloud gets into fights in a heartbeat, and Barrett's got a short temper, they'll come to blows I know it. And I'm not there to mediate like normal so... yeah, I'm worried." I nodded and then faced the bar.

"Right last orders we close in ten minutes," I shouted out over the noise. I gave Tifa a smile that she returned briefly. "Problem solved." I headed back round the kitchens to start cooking for the guys coming in.

In the back of my head I was trying to rationalise that destroying the Reactor was the right thing to do. It was draining life from the planet itself, destroying life on the surface, the people in the slums suffered never having seen the sun or grass in their entire lives. The people down here hated Shinra for letting them suffer like this, for just ignoring them for profit. People had lost a lot to Shinra. It seemed like all the odds weighed up against them. Then I look at the people in the slums, the people who could count all the things they have in one hand, the ones who made do with what they had. There's going to be people caught in those explosions and there was no way around it. What little they had they would lose and that's not even counting the people on the Plate.

When I thought of it that way all I could think about was when Sin attacked Kilika.

When the bar cleared and was completely empty I started to help Tifa with cleaning the place. Her mind was still preoccupied with worry about Cloud and Barrett despite my reassurances that they would be okay. We did expect them back soon-ish anyway. I was just hoping they'd not be in an argumentative mood for Tifa's sake. She saw them through the window on the approach and went into the back to wake up Marlene.

They all seemed pretty pleased when they came in. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie all sat at a table as Tifa and Marlene came back. We started putting the food out when Marlene noticed someone else come through the doors and ran to them.

"Papa!" She stopped herself short of the man who came in and proceeded to run back to the bar, hiding behind it. I looked at Cloud, who kept his expression indifferent.

"Still not good with kids?" I asked. My response was nothing; he walked to one of the empty tables and leant against it. "So it's just people in general then? All right." Tifa glanced over to me briefly before she went over to talk with Cloud while I went to get the rest of the food. I looked over to them, trying to see if I could make out what they were saying. Down in Cloud's hand was a yellow flower that he gave to Tifa. Honestly he looked so awkward giving it to her but she appreciated the gesture. At the same time Marlene rushed to the doors to greet Barrett, who ordered everyone involved in the Reactor explosion to get downstairs for a meeting. As they were leaving Tifa came behind the bar and filled a glass up with water, putting the flower inside it.

"It's cute," I said. She put the glass on top of the bar. To be honest she looked as if she was in her own little world staring at the flower. I leant against the counter. "When was it he left to join Soldier again?"

"Hm?" Tifa turned to me, looking slightly embarrassed. "Oh, he was about fourteen when he left Nibelheim." Fourteen? So, seven years ago then. Geez he was the same age as me. "It wasn't uncommon; a lot of boys left to Midgar to join Soldier. Not everyone made it but that was the dream then, you know."

"Yeah. I suppose it has its perks," I said absently. I honestly knew very little about the whole Soldier thing, other than having one onside was a big deal especially a First Class one. My most logical conclusion was that it was some elite military force and that First Class was the goal. Probably some famous one I haven't caught the name of yet was the poster boy of it all.

"Guess it did," Tifa nodded absently.

"What made you leave Nibelheim?" I got no response to my question but her expression spoke volumes: no eye contact, head turned away, posture stiffening. Something happened in Nibelheim. "Sorry, I didn't realise."

"No. It's... it's fine. You didn't know," Tifa smiled at me. It was quickly taken off by crashing from downstairs. She ran down to the guys in an attempt to break up the fighting.

I stayed up at the bar, listening to the noise. Some more crashing, yelling, a few swears here and there. Eventually Cloud came back upstairs and was storming to the door, quickly followed by Tifa who managed to stop him..

"Listen, Cloud. I'm asking you. Please join us," Tifa said to him. Cloud shook his head in response and started heading for the door again. "Cloud, the planet is dying. Slow, but surely, it's dying. Someone has to do something."

"So let Barrett and his buddies do something about it. Got nothing to do with me," was Cloud's harsh reply. He turned again and was just at the door.

"That's it then? You're going to walk out ignoring your childhood friend?" Tifa's voice had hardened a little but you could still hear her frustration and sadness. At least it made Cloud stop again and look at her, clearly at a loss for words.

"... Sorry."

"You forgot our promise, too," Tifa added. Cloud continued looking at her quizzically. "So you _did_ forget. It was seven years ago..." He was clearly thinking hard about it, his arms crossed and looking at the floor. After a while of silence he nodded at Tifa, but then looked up at the ceiling.

"I'm not a hero and I'm not famous. So I can't keep our promise," he eventually answered to her. I couldn't even see Tifa's face but I could feel her hurt. After a moment she let out a breath.

"But you got the childhood dream, didn't you? You joined Soldier?" She asked. Cloud rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "So come on. You've got to keep your promise."

Barrett was already making his way upstairs and to the front of the bar, eyes set on Cloud. I was hoping that a punch up wouldn't start there and then but I just watched the scene play out.

"Wait a sec, big time Soldier," he said, tossing an envelope to Cloud. He looked in it and gave a short scoff.

"This is my pay? Don't make me laugh," I wasn't sure what tone he was going for, but I wasn't happy with it. He looked over to Barrett. "You got the next job lined up? I'll do it for three thousand."

"You're fucking joking, right?" Barrett replied from his gut. Tifa turned him away from Cloud and a little out of his earshot.

"We're hurting for help right?" Tifa said.

"I know, but... that money's for Marlene's schooling," Barrett said. I couldn't let Barrett use that money to hire Cloud again. I sighed and looked past Tifa and Barrett and over to Cloud.

"Look I'll pay you, that sound good?" I said. "Two thousand."

"Two and a half."

"Two."

"... Fine."


	5. The Don's Mansion

The Don's Mansion

The next morning Avalanche was ready to execute it's next move: take out the Sector Five reactor. The plan was to keep away from a pattern to avoid being ambushed by Shinra military but to still expect higher security measure being taken. We had to act fast and hard before it became impossible to get past them. Tifa was going to help them on this mission but I was still conflicted about the whole thing, so I opted to stay behind and watch over the bar and Marlene.

The whole day I had the feeling of being on edge. To start with it was because I felt nervous about watching someone's bar and residence while they were away. The other reason was that, if the Turks came by again, I knew I had no where to run from them and I could put Marlene in danger. I kept the worries to myself, kept checking on Marlene in the back while keeping the bar, and myself, busy. I think I eyed the windows and doors a few too many times out of paranoia. The one peculiar thing I noted was that one man came in early afternoon, sit in the corner, order water, and keep to himself. After an hour or two he went outside for a few minutes then came back inside, ordering more water.

It was heading into the evening when everyone came back. Everyone bar Cloud. Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge all headed into the back almost immediately, as did Barrett, while Tifa gave me a silent signal to follow them. I double checked the bar, noticed the man going outside again, then followed into the kitchen area.

"What happened?" I asked as soon as I entered.

"We bombed the Reactor, but we lost Cloud," Barrett said.

"How did you lose him?"

"The Shinra fucking ambushed us, that's how!" He yelled. Tifa checked the front in case anyone heard him. "He fell of the damn walkways as the bomb went off!"

"And he's made no contact? Could he be in the Sector Five Slums?" I asked. I knew people who could survive falls like that. If he was a Soldier, genetically engineered to be more advanced then a regular human, then he must have survived.

"We've only just got back," Tifa said. "We can't go anywhere near that Sector, Shinra will be everywhere looking for us."

"We gotta lie low for now," Barrett said. I nodded and peered into the bar again. The man had just came back in and was sitting back down. Something was definitely wrong.

"Close the bar," I ordered suddenly, heading out into the front. "We're closing! Everyone out now!" There were groans of displeasure about the announcement. I looked over to Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie, nodding for them to start getting everyone out. I watched the man in the corner, who didn't move for a few moments. He a good number of people were at the door he got up and started to head out. I was already approaching him and grabbed him by the shirt. "You're not leaving."

"What are you doing?" Tifa asked. I shoved the man back onto a chair. I kept my eye on him as the bar emptied. When I heard the door click and lock I folded my arms.

"You've been here all day and you've ordered nothing," I began.

"Not true: I've ordered water," he replied. "I don't know what this is about I just came here to relax. Does she normally treat your customers like this?" I glanced at Tifa and Barrett briefly, then back to the man.

"I've seen you come in and out of the bar. You've been on your phone. Who are you talking to?" I asked.

"I went outside because it's quieter," he said and started to get up. I grabbed his arm and twisted it around his back, shoving him against the wall. "Are you fucking insane? Let go of me!"

"You tell me who've been talking to," I said, gripping his arm tighter.

"Nobody! I swear!"

"Barrett?" I nodded for him to come over. He stood beside me and aimed his gun at the man's face. "I won't ask again: Who were you talking to?"

"Okay! Okay! It was the Don!" He yelled out in panic. Looking around I saw everyone's faces turn sour. I twisted his arm further.

"What does he want?"

"I don't know! He just said to watch the bar after the Reactor was bombed last night!" He answered. "I was just told to watch the bar! I swear! That's all I know! Let me go! Please!" I looked at Barrett.

"... Fuck it. Probably doesn't know anything," he said, lowering his arm. I grabbed the back of the guy's head and slammed it against the wall, knocking him out cold.

"He needs to be dumped somewhere away from here before he wakes up," I noted. Biggs and Jessie went to the body and lifted it out, Wedge heading out first to check the coast is clear. "Who's the Don?"

"He's the damn creep who thinks he runs the Wall Market down in Sector Six," Barrett said.

"Something's not right. There's got to be a reason why he's started watching the bar," Tifa said.

"Tifa, leave it. The lech ain't worth it."

"Barrett there's got to be a reason. Why would he watch the bar after the bombing?"

"I don't know but I ain't letting you go down there to get answers. The man ain't worth that trouble."

"What if he sends more people? What then?" I asked. "We need to get answers from him."

"Hey! We're not going to the Wall Market! I said he ain't worth it!" Barrett ordered. I suppose we had to listen to him. He was the leader and all.

* * *

We kept the bar closed the rest of the day to be on the safe side. The whole mess with the Don wasn't brought up once but it didn't sit well with anyone, especially Tifa. We all just kept our mouths shut about it.

It was getting late and everyone had bedded down for the night. I couldn't sleep and stayed up, wandering around the bar. I had noticed Tifa leave a little earlier and just saw her coming back. When she came into the bar she was little surprised that I was still awake.

"You okay?" I asked. She was still worried sick about Cloud but something else was plaguing her mind. I looked at the bag she was holding. "Get anything good?"

"Um... look promise you won't tell Barrett?" Tifa sighed, knowing she would get caught either way. "Something isn't right with the Don watching the bar. I need to hear the story from him."

"What's your plan?"

"Every night the Don chooses from a group of girls, usually three or so, and... is looking for a bride so he... gets them together and picks one and... you know how it goes. I need to be the one he picks tonight. I need to her the story from him," she explained. I sighed and shook my head.

"Okay, first off, that whole premise is fucking gross and degrading," I began. "And second. You're not going yourself."

"So you don't want to find out what he's planning?" Tifa said, looking at me in disbelief.

"Tifa, I said you're not going yourself," I said again. "He needs a group of girls to pick from, we need to up our chances. Besides, between the two of us do you think he'd pick this mug? I'm going with you." Tifa seemed conflicted about the suggestion but eventually sighed and nodded.

"Okay. I suppose it'll be better if both of us go," she said hesitantly. "I just don't want you getting involved in anything you're uncomfortable with."

"What I'm uncomfortable with is you going alone," I told her. "Now when do we leave?"

"We should be getting picked up in half an hour. They'll be fine with you coming, so don't worry about them being confused about you being there," Tifa said. "I, uh, need to change first."

"Take a change of clothes anyway. I'll change too," I knew my clothes from Besaid would probably fit this scenario more since they were for warmer climates, plus they'd assume I'm trying to draw attention away from my face.

When we were both changed Tifa took me with her to where the carriage was waiting. Already it felt dodgy and I was uncomfortable but didn't show it. They seemed okay that another girl was joining them, but I could see them eyeing my face when they noticed the scars even though they said nothing. I kept my mouth shut, knowing I'd say something that'd get me into trouble and I was here to support Tifa. I still didn't really like the plan but Tifa was determined to go through with it and there was no swaying her.

* * *

The trip to Sector Six was quiet. I sat listening to the white noise outside. The carriage took us to this large, tacky looking house, and we were ushered into a "waiting room" which... it was a sex dungeon. Whips, chains, cuffs, odd cabinet of pills. The works. They sure know how to make women feel welcome.

Tifa started pacing around the room while we waited for what felt like an eternity. No one came down to see us, they literally just put us there and left us to our own devices. Not that there was anything to do but look through all the tools kept down here. I found a cane and some nipple clamps hiding in the back of a shelf, so I showed them to Tifa to try get a laugh from her. It didn't really work so I gave up on the idea.

"Worrying isn't going to help," I said.

"It's taking too long," Tifa said, her gaze down at the ground. I sighed and walked around the room.

"They could be waiting on more girls. They should call us up when they're ready," I tried to reassure her. "Just try not to worry so much. We'll get the information from him no matter what."

"I hope you're right."

We heard the doors open and a series of footsteps coming hurriedly down the steps. Two women had entered the room, hopefully the last of the girls. One of them was a blonde who appeared really shy and was looking at the floor, while the other had long brown hair and was wearing one killer red dress. She also had the greenest eyes I've ever seen aside from Andra. She gave us a warm smile and approached us while the other stayed back, turning away.

"Hi, I'm Aerith," she introduced, extending her hand to Tifa. "Sorry, is it Tifa and... Christie? Sorry, Cloud told me about you. We saw you in the park."

"Oh, you did?" Tifa said, not doing very well to hide her disappointment. Aerith chuckled a little bit.

"Don't worry, we just met. It's nothing," She said.

"What do you mean "don't worry"?" Tifa responded, surprised at Aerith's assumption. "No, no it's not like that. We just grew up together." We both got a bit confused when Aerith laughed a little at Tifa's answer.

"Sorry, just poor Cloud having to listen to us say he's nothing," she said, looking over to the other woman. "Right... Cloud?"

Tifa and I looked at one another, then finally got a look at the other woman who had come with Aerith. Blonde, very blue eyes with the... the Mako glow that Soldier's had. I covered my mouth and held back a shocked laugh. He thought Tifa was in trouble and went so far as to dress as a woman to get her. That was... well it was dedication.

"Cloud! What are you doing here?" Tifa asked, mouth agape as she looked at her friend. "No, never mind that. What happened to you after you fell? Are you hurt?"

"Tifa, I'm fine," Cloud answered. "This was the only way we could get in. What are you two doing here?" Tifa clasped her hands and looked away. She looked at me for a little help so I stepped into the conversation.

"There was a shady guy hanging around the bar, he said he got his orders to watch the place from the Don," I said. "Barrett said to leave it be, but Tifa wasn't having any of it. We think there's more to it and I wasn't letting her come here alone. So... here we are."

"Right. Every night the Don gets together a group of girls, picks one and... you know," Tifa continued. "But I have to be that girl. I need to know why the Don was watching the bar."

"Well, you know who all the girls are so that shouldn't be a problem, right?" Aerith said. Tifa gave a hesitant nod. It actually did put us in a better position if everyone was in on the plan.

Not long after we had someone call on us to follow him to the Don's office. The room was garish to the point of tacky, brightly lit, gold statues and coloured paintings, fake plants, and a sliding door that led into the back. The Don himself was a portly man, hair shaved at the sides, thin moustache, dressed as garishly as his office, cigar in his mouth and wine on his desk. His leer was making me uncomfortable because I damn well knew what he wanted to do if he got our hands on us. He was already scanning us up and down and grinning.

"Yes, yes! Now, stand in a line, dearies, let me take a good look at you," he said, sweet to the point of toothache. We stood side by side, watching as he walked around his desk, coming a little to close to us for comfort. He started with Aerith, then Cloud, then myself, and finally Tifa. He looked over us a couple of times and, admittedly, I could feel myself glaring at him to get him to back off from me, or maybe that was his kink I was screwed either way. "Hmm, yes, I think I've made my decision," oh, great. Make it quick. "This little beauty!"

We looked at Tifa, who gave a quick sigh of relief. She was instructed to follow the Don into the back room and I gave her a look to let her know we'd be with her as soon as we could. One of the men escorted us out and into a room off to the side. It was filled with cigarette smoke and the smell of alcohol. There were maybe four or five guys, playing cards and leering at us as we walked inside.

"Well boys, here are the runners-up," the man said as he closed the door. I looked at Cloud and Aerith with no amusement. I knew what I was planning to do. "So let's have fun, huh girls?"

When the guys stood up I, with no hesitation, walked straight up to one and hooked him in the face. When they were caught by surprise I got one of guys close to me and slammed his head on the table. Another guy tried to jump at me but I blocked him, punching his gut, then head-butting him. I looked up and saw that Cloud and Aerith had taken care of the last two men, although Aerith had more of a surprised look on her face.

"You work fast," she said.

"Let's go get Tifa," I said, leading them out of the room and back into the office. There was a man standing outside the Don's office, surprised at us coming towards him. I Knocked him out quickly and pushed the doors open, rushing to the sliding doors and throwing them open. The Don was on the bed and Tifa was standing at the end of it, leaning over. Well she was until we barged in.

"Guys!" She exclaimed out of surprise.

"What is going on?" The Don asked, somewhere between the realm of confused and aroused. Gross either way.

"We're asking the questions here," I said, walking past Tifa and approaching the Don. "You sent your me to watch the Seventh Heaven after the Reactor bombing. Who ordered you to do it and why?"

"I'm not telling you anything," he tried to sound bold and unafraid but I wasn't having it.

"If you don't tell us what we want to know," Tifa stepped in, walking up to my side. "I'll smash them." Oh the look on the Don's face when she said that, if I had a picture of it.

"O-okay! It was Heidegger of Shinra!" He blurted out. We knew it. "They had a lead on Avalanche and wanted me to follow it up, so I sent my boys to watch the place. Now it looks like they were right: Avalanche is in Sector Seven and they're going to go ahead with their plan."

"What plan?"

"They'll kill me if I tell you!"

"And I'll break your dick if you don't tell me," I retorted, making him go pale. At the side both Cloud and Aerith were watching in amazement, and cringing a little.

"You're serious, aren't you?" The Don gulped. "Okay, I'll tell: Shinra are going to drop the Plate on Sector Seven, frame Avalanche for it, and kill them in the process."

"What?" Tifa gasped. "They can't do that! They'll kill thousands of innocent people!"

"Which is why they'll frame Avalanche," I said. "We need to warn the others."

"W-wait just a second!" The Don called as we were leaving. "Don't you want to know why I would just babble the truth out to you like that?"

"Because you'd have no balls and would have to piss out a tube otherwise?" I said. The Don just laughed.

"Close, but no cigar!" He pulled a lever and the floor gave way underneath the four of us, having us fall down a dark chute into nothingness.


	6. Race Against Time

Race Against Time

We landed in shallow water, almost on top of one another, and the place was so damn dark. I could barely see anything in front of me and I felt around for the others.

"I hope that isn't what he does to the other girls he's picked..." Aerith said with a groan.

"Everyone alright?" Cloud asked.

"No," Tifa answered. "Barret, Marlene, the guys... the Sector's done for."

"Tifa, don't talk like that. Never give up hope," Aerith said, slightly stern at Tifa's attitude. "It's not easy to destroy the supports, right?"

"Right... right!" Tifa's voice gained a tinge of hope. "There's still time! We have to hurry!"

"Where exactly are we, anyway?" I asked.

"Sewers, probably," Aerith answered. We heard the sound of ripping, all of us knowing what was going on.

"I was going to ask to borrow that," I joked, getting a grumble from Cloud. "Well you get changed, we're getting out of here."

Aerith had a materia containing the power of fire and used it as a guide to light our way. I think all of us would have liked to get into better clothes but we had priorities and if it meant saving the Sector in highly inappropriate clothes then that was what we were going to do.

I kept trying to think that Shinra had only recently got confirmation on Avalanche's location and that their plan would need time to go into motion. We could warn the others, start evacuating the slums and set up a plan to counteract Shinra's plot. We still had time, that was what I was hoping. It was what Tifa was hoping.

We found a ladder that reached upwards, a manhole at the top that was slightly out of place. Tifa climbed up first, followed by Cloud, Aerith, and myself. Thankfully it did come out in Sector Seven but we were in the Train Graveyard. Scores of broken down carriages filled out view, some mountainous piles threatening to topple down at any second. Creaking and squeaking filled our ears. We were probably quite far into the wreckage. At least there was one positive to our situation.

"We still have time," Tifa said as she scanned for a way out.

"Aerith, I got you mixed up in all this..." I heard Cloud say behind us, followed by a sigh.

"Don't tell me to go home," she interrupted.

"We don't have time for this we need to get to the pillar support," I said to them and then looked at Tifa. "Please say you know where you're going?"

"We're not far from the station, follow me."

The climb was risky and hazardous but, considering our unknown time frame, it was worth the gamble. Tifa was right about us being close to the station and the place was completely abandoned. Now that we were in the more populated areas we could hear voices, shouting, sirens, all in the direction of the slums main.

* * *

It was complete chaos: crowds of people were pushing and shoving and crying to get out, Shinra soldiers were playing the part trying to evacuate civilians and fight anyone who looked as though they belonged in Avalanche. You could just barely hear the gunfire over the wails of the people desperate to escape death. My heart seized up in my chest. Going this far to destroy its enemies... Shinra was insane.

"Shinra, what have you made?" I said to myself in a whisper I knew no one heard. I almost lost the others in the crowds as we started heading towards the pillar. Shinra guards were there, firing at people on the stairs. I heard someone cry out in pain as they were shot, then another as Cloud cut down the soldier attacking Avalanche.

"Wedge!" Cloud yelled out, seeing that he was hurt. We all managed to get past the fences and into the compound that housed the pillar support. Blood seeped from Wedge's chest and his breathing became laboured. Shit he was hit really bad.

"Cloud... Tifa... Barrett's up top," he wheezed out. "Help him..."

"Hold on," Aerith knelt down beside him and started to cast a healing spell. The wound closed over a little bit but Wedge was still having trouble breathing.

"Wedge where's Marlene?" I asked.

"Still at... the bar," Wedge answered. I nodded and looked over to Tifa.

"I'll get Marlene out then I'm coming up," I said.

"I'll go with you," Aerith offered. "The two of you hurry and help your friend."

When we reached the ever growing crowd of people trying to get out I took hold of Aerith's wrist and used my free hand to shove the crowds out of the way as we headed to the slums. Thankfully the further in we went the emptier it became. There were still stragglers and people trying to help others but I only focused on getting back to the bar, throwing the doors open when we arrived there.

"Marlene?" I called out, starting to scan the room for any sign of her. I checked the kitchen, then the back rooms where everyone slept. "Marlene? Marlene where are you?"

"Christie?" In my panic I had barely even seen her hiding behind the bar. I crouched down to her and she ran up to me. I checked her over in worry that she might have been hurt but she was fine. "Where's Daddy and Tifa and the others?"

"They're helping everyone in the slums, but they asked me to get you out of here so you're safe," I said to her.

"We can take her to my mom's house," Aerith offered, knowing that we didn't have any safe place outside Sector Seven to go to. I looked over at Aerith, I knew we didn't know each other that well, but if I was there with Marlene I knew she'd be okay.

"Who's that?" Marlene asked.

"I'm Aerith, I'm a flower girl from Sector Five," Aerith answered, crouching down to Marlene's level. "Now how about we get you out of here so your daddy and tifa don't have to worry, hm?"

"Okay," Marlene nodded.

I took Marlene's hand and we guided her out of the Slums. It was no less busy at the exit but I needed to get to the front. Much to my surprise Aerith was becoming quite forceful in trying to get through, pushing people out the way to get us all through.

We had made it through the gates and heading towards Sector Six, where most people were going. Aerith showed us to a run down park that lead away from the crowds. I guessed this lead to Sector Five is she was taking her to her mum's house.

Aerith stopped and handed me a green materia, placing it in my free hand. It was sudden and I was a bit confused as to why she was giving me it, or what the materia even did.

"You need to help the others, I saw Turks heading to the pillar," she said. Shit if the Turks were there then I didn't know how they'd cope. Sure Cloud was a Solider but even then, people had their limits. "I know shortcuts through the Slums, I'll get Marlene to safety I promise."

"Chrisite..." Marlene squeezed my hand. I knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Marlene, Aerith will get you to a safe place," I assured her. "I'll help your dad and Tifa, and we'll meet up at Aerith's mum's house, okay? I promise."

"Okay..." Marlene nodded and Aerith took her hand. I watched them for a moment running off into the Slums before pocketing the materia she had given me and running back through the gates before they closed. There were still people trying to get out and I couldn't let people get stranded here in terror.

I looked around for where the controls were and found some Shinra soldiers grouping around one part at a small station. I ran towards it and threw a punch, breaking the glass and hitting the guard. I launched myself through and tossed the guard out, grabbing his gun and shooting the others that tried to fight. I quickly worked the controls, getting the gates to open again, and took out the soldiers before they could undo what I had done. I couldn't see the Turks anywhere, worried that they were up top already. So I started my ascent up the pillar.

Halfway up I noticed a helicopter leaving the pillar. I had to hurry.

I arrived at the top and found Tifa, Cloud, and Barrett fighting a person I found vaguely familiar. A Turk, red hair, Reno-something-maybe? He was blocking an attack from Cloud when Tifa noticed arriving.

"Christie!" She called. It paused Reno for a second as I ran, dropped into a slide, and swept his legs out from underneath him. I rolled back and out the way as he scrambled up. I quickly glanced at Tifa, then Barrett.

"I got her out, she's safe," I said to assure them. Reno was back blocking hits from Cloud, trying to distract him.

"He's armed the bomb!" Cloud called to me, getting an electric shock from Reno's weapon. I ran to the control panel, trying to figure out where to start. I didn't know how to disarm bombs, but I had to do something.

"Try all you want, that thing's rigged to blow," Reno said. I heard his footsteps moving quickly and getting closer. I spun round and blocked his attack, punching him in the gut and shoving him back. I needed him out the way if we were going to get time to work on disabling that bomb.

I ran at him and put my shoulder forward, getting him as far from the controls as I could. I turned quickly and signalled the others to start working on the bomb, turning around and getting a left hook to the face. He was a lot faster than I was, but I was durable. I blocked his hits, dodging others when I could, and hit him hard when I saw an opening. Reno then got my side with his baton, shocking me with electricity. The burn in my side hurt like something else.

He pushed me back and I let myself fall, rolling backwards to gain more distance. I held my side, it burning and nipping away. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, feeling my life force channelling into my hands. I suddenly felt the burning subside and I looked quickly, noticing the faint glow of the materia Aerith had given me. It reacted when I triggered my life force, I assumed. Least I had a second wind.

Reno was already closing in on me and I dodged his incoming attack, grabbing his arm and twisting my body out the way to he couldn't attack me. Then, when one swift move, I forced my palm upwards and heard a crack in his arm as the bone broke. I heard him grunt in pain, but no screams or crying out in shock.

Almost instantly after I hand broken his arm Reno had twisted his body around, linking a leg around mine and pulling me off my feet. Before I could turn and get back up I was pinned and felt something sharp in my neck. It last a few seconds before going away and the weight of the man got off me. I stood up and stumbled, knowing full well I wasn't as coordinated as I should have been.

My vision blurred and I heard a faint ringing in my ears. I could see the others fighting again, or trying to disable the bomb, but I could hardly focus. I felt my eyes roll into the back of my head as someone grabbed me and I lost consciousness.


	7. Anonymous

Anonymous

I could hear a helicopter flying through the air but that it, nothing else. Even as I was coming to I knew I was fucked. My mind took its time pulling itself back together but I tried to keep still. My eyelids twitched and I opened them slightly to get an idea of who was with me.

Two Turks and Aerith, not counting the pilot. I did recognise them as the two Turks who tried to grab me before I joined Avalanche. I couldn't see where we were exactly because I knew if I turned my head they would know I was awake. I wasn't running the risk of them knocking me out again. I didn't even know if they had anything else to knock me out with, bar a blow to the head. I knew I needed to get out of the situation I was in and I needed to get Aerith out as well.

The helicopter eventually landed and the rotors came to a halt. I could hear them moving, people outside moving, and the doors opening.

"Take them to Hojo. Rude, carry her she's still unconscious," I heard one of them say. I heard Aerith objecting and, when I opened my eyes slightly, I could see about three soldiers and another man in a black suit. One of the soldiers took Aerith by the wrist and pulled her off the helicopter while the third Turk with sunglasses lifted me and threw me over his shoulder. I opened my eyes a little more to check my surroundings. A helicopter pad on that was high up on a building. I'm going to have to time this right if we're getting out of here.

The soldiers and the Turk took us into an elevator and I doubled checked how many were actually there. It had been reduced to two soldiers and the Turk carrying me. This was doable. I could get us out of here.

I flipped myself over the Turk's shoulder, hooking my leg around his neck and twisting around and bringing my other leg around. I pulled him down and tossed him over. I vaulted back up and elbowed one of the soldiers in the face and kicking the other in the chest. The Turk grabbed me from behind so I jerked my head back into his face. He didn't loosen his grip so I ended up triggering my life force into my hands to blast him off me. When the doors opened I grabbed one of the soldier's guns, got Aerith, and rushed us out the elevator.

We had arrived on a floor that looked like a lab, some of the workers gasped and remained frozen in fear. I kept the gun on them and looked for the stairs. I quickly spotted the sign directing to them and we ran. I kept checking over my shoulder to make sure we weren't being followed.

"You okay?" I asked Aerith when we got to the stairwell. She took a deep breath and nodding, following me down the stairs.

"I'm fine," she answered.

"How did they get you? Is Marlene okay?" I questioned as I was pretty much leaping down the stairs.

"She's fine, she's with my mom," Aerith said. "I said I would only go with them if I could take Marlene somewhere safe. She's fine, don't worry."

"The others? Barrett, Cloud, Tifa?"

"I saw them at the pillar, but we left before it collapsed."

I didn't want to think of the worst but I could only assume they were dead.

"Okay, Aerith where are we?"

"The Shinra building on the Upper Plate," well that's ironic considering this was where I wanted to be to start off with. "How are we getting out of here?"

"Aerith... I don't know," I said and looked at her as we hit the bottom of the stairs. The sign took us to level sixty. Fucking hell this was a big building. "I'm making this up as I go. Get over there." She headed away from the door as I approached it slowly, taking hold of the handle and swinging it open, coming face to face with half a dozen soldiers aiming their guns at me.

I opened fire on them and forced them to scatter, managing to take out three of them. I heard one call for back up and I ran to the seats and vaulted over them, firing at the soldier and then ducking behind more seats. I spotted a fireball from the stairwell and Aerith ran out after she hit the soldier with the fire.

"Over here!" I shouted and she ran over, crouching down behind cover with me. I was running low on ammo with this gun so I belly crawled over the guard I shot at and took his gun. I then started hearing more gun fire. "Shit, that's the back up."

"Surrender yourselves now. It would be a waste if you were killed after all this trouble," I recognised that as one of Turk's voices. "Put down your weapons and come out."

"Let her go! It's me you want she has nothing to do with this!" Aerith yelled.

"What are you doing?" I hissed.

"Trying to get you out."

"It's both of us, okay? We're both leaving here," I told her then started to call over my shoulder. "We're not surrendering!"

"This is not a negotiation. Step out from your cover. Now." I looked at Aerith, who shook her head.

Before I could do anything a canister was thrown over to us and gas started spewing out of it. We both started choking, tears started streaming from my eyes and I could barely breathe. That was when the soldiers surrounded us, grabbed Aerith, and tranquillised me to render me unconscious.

* * *

I don't know how long I was out but I had woken up in a cell. It wasn't long before several security guards came in, handcuffed me, and escorted me down to an empty room with a wall mirror, two chairs and a table between them. They sat me down, still handcuffed, and two guards stationed at the door. After a few moments a Turk entered the room. It was the one with black hair from the Slums. I think I could remember his name. I waited for him to sit down, clasping his hands together and resting them on the table.

"Tseng, was it?" I asked and watched his face for a response. He kept his eyes set firmly on me and barely moved.

"So you know who I am," he said. "The problem is that we don't know who you are... at all."

"A problem with your information?"

"The _problem_ is that we don't have any," Tseng continued. "You arrive in Midgar with no way to identify yourself, you set off the security measures on the trains because of it, then you proceed to escape into the Slums and evade capture from two Turks, you resurface working for Avalanche and then attempt to escape taking on highly trained personnel in addition to another Turk. Your skills are exceptional but there are no records of you ever being in the military." A pause in his speech. "In fact there are no records of you at all. We took a sample of your DNA while you were unconscious. You don't appear on any of our data bases. There is no information on you. No name, no family, no birthplace, no medical records. _Nothing_. By all means you don't exist... yet here you are."

Because I didn't exist in this world. Not until about three weeks ago.

"So... who are you?"

I looked at Tseng. I looked him dead in the eye. We had a steely stand off, neither of us blinking, neither of us shying away from the other's gaze. They had no idea who I was. Absolutely no clue. I smirked a let out a small chuckle.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Don't try my patience," Tseng said, eyes narrowing.

"Or what? You can't make me talk," I said. "You don't have anything; you can't threaten me to talk, you can't torture me, you can't do shit. You have nothing on me, and even at that the only people who knew who I was were in Avalanche. But you had to go and drop the Plate on them so... tough luck, huh?" I felt a lot bolder with the power of animosity behind me. They had no idea who I was or what my agenda was. All they had was that I was with Avalanche. Tseng, even though I saw a slight hint of frustration in his eyes, remained composed.

"Under normal circumstances we would have members of Avalanche, and of any organisation who opposed Shinra, executed without hesitation," he said, "regardless of how anonymous they appeared to be. But these aren't normal circumstances." They way he said it put me on guard more.

"What do you mean?"

"We had orders to find and secure the last remaining Ancient on Gaia, the woman who was taken alongside you," he said and adjusted his tie. "Only now we find that she _isn't_ the last remaining Ancient at all... she's one of two."

"I have no idea what you're going on about," I said.

"Lie all you want, but your DNA showed multiple similarities to other Ancients we had on record, as well as Miss Gainsborough's. Not exact but enough to confirm you as an Ancient," Tseng watched my face as I just stared at him, utterly confused. "You seem shocked by this."

"Probably because I have no fucking clue of what you're on about," I answered.

"Then I suppose we should let the professor explain," he turned to the guards. "Take her back to her cell until Hojo's ready for them both."

* * *

I got thrown back into a cell by myself and I knew there would be guards hanging outside to make sure I stayed put. Not that I could go anywhere but the door I came though. The cell had no windows just cold metal walls. I had no idea how I'd get out, where Aerith was, and was stuck in a stupid little room. I noticed that my bag was on the bed, I was surprised they let me have it. I checked inside, my other set of clothes there. I suppose I'd be better changing out of my Besaid clothes. They were still damp anyway.

I didn't feel better after I had changed. I was just stuck now with no idea on how to escape and I hated it. I was beyond frustrated at this point and I put my back to the wall with a harder thud than I intended. I sighed and slink down to the floor to sit. I really didn't have a clue right now.

"Christie? Is that you?" I heard Aerith's muffled voice through the wall behind me. I turned around and sat facing it.

"Yeah it's me," I answered. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, how about you?"

"I'm okay. Did they question you too?"

"No, I've been in the labs for most of it," Aerith told me. "Mostly blood and DNA tests but they didn't say anything to me."

"Why do they want us?" I asked in hopes of getting a decent answer.

"You don't know?" Aerith asked. "We're the last Ancients... and here I thought my mother and I were the last ones."

"What is an Ancient? I have no idea what any of you are talking about when you say it," I said.

"You really don't know? But you... you can channel the Lifestream," Aerith said. I was just getting confused.

"That's my life force, I've always been able to do that."

"Your life force _is_ the Lifestream," Aerith reasoned. "I saw you use it in the elevator on the Turk. You _are_ an Ancient."

In a sense maybe I was. I started to think try piece everything together in my head. The Shinra Company were clearly founded by Shinra the Al Bhed, who discovered that there was potential in harnessing the Farplane's power as an energy source not long after the destruction of Vegnagun, a machina that actually was using the Farplane's energy to do just that. Clearly he found a way to actually do that, or his descendants did, and built the Reactors and cities that relied on them. But then how did the Ancients come into it? How far ahead in the future was I?

Unless the Ancients were people who were more attuned to the planet's energy like the Summoners were. Everyone in Spira had some affinity with the world and the pyreflies and some were stronger than others, like the Guado and Summoners. Maybe that's who the Ancients were? Who Aerith descended from? Who I was?

But that made no sense. I was always under the impression that this was a different world from Spira. But then how does Shinra connect to it?

"Christie?" I snapped out from my thoughts and took a deep breath in.

"Sorry it's... a lot to take in. I never knew," it wasn't a complete lie. In fact it wasn't a lie at all.

The doors opened and the Turk Tseng came in. He stared me down as I stood up, then looked at my bag on the bed.

"And how did you retrieve your belongings?" He asked.

"You tell me, they were left there," I answered. Tseng said nothing in regards to it and motioned the guards to grab me.

"Professor Hojo is ready for you both now."


	8. Attempting Escape

Attempting Escape

Aerith had significantly less guards around her than I did. She only had a handful of soldiers whereas I had several alongside a Turk armed with sedatives, not to mention being handcuffed for good measure. We were moved along from the cells to the lab, which wasn't a long walk, and found the place prepared for our arrival. I wasn't comfortable with how it was set up: huge glass containers large enough for humans, chemicals laying out on a tray, I was partially worried about the stretcher set out as well. Even the staff set me ill at ease.

The professor himself was an older man, hair black buy greying, tied back, brows furrowed, beady eyes peering over his glasses, his body hunched over and his hands clasped behind his back. He only turned to us when he heard us approach. He observed us for a few moments before approaching Aerith, eyes narrowing in inspection.

"Unfortunately not the specimen I would have liked, but I suppose we all must make do," he said to her. I noticed Aerith leaning back as far as she could to have distance between herself and him. It didn't take a genius to tell there was history there. The professor gestured to the larger container. "Put her in there," I watched as Aerith was thrown inside the container, two assistant scientists taking place of the guards. The professor then approached me and gave me the same, studying look as he did Aerith. "Now you, you require further testing."

"Grand, looking forward to it," I say, knowing I'm digging my hole deeper. I get hit in the back of the head with a gun, making me dizzy.

"Be careful with my specimen!" The professor snaps, I see him directing to both the soldier that delivered the blow and the Turk.

"I assure you it's necessary," he says. In an instant I'm hurried into a smaller container and thrown in before I can regain my senses. Fuck's sake I knew they felt it necessary but fuck.

I got to my feet and watched as everyone focused on Aerith's container. A red creature, looking like the cross of a lion and a wolf with a dim flame on the end of its tail, appeared in the container alongside her. Aerith had already pushed herself against the glass, as far away as she could from it. It appeared sedated, only just coming round. I had no clue what this professor, this Hojo, had planned.

I balled my hand into a fist an hit the glass hard. It was pretty reinforced but I knew with a bit more force, or even with some life force behind it, I could shatter it. I looked around to check that the assistants weren't near the sedatives or weapons, and if I could hold one hostage for leverage, or if Hojo even cared about them. If I could get to him it would be more practical.

My thoughts were interrupted when the side elevator opened up, spilling for familiar faces. Barrett, Tifa, and Cloud were all there. They hadn't seen me and only spotted Aerith cowering from the creature.

"Aerith!" Cloud yelled. Tifa turned her head and gasped when she saw me. I gave her an okay gesture since I wasn't sure how soundproof this glass was. Hojo didn't seem very annoyed or surprised that they were there. He narrowed his eyes and looked at them.

"Oh. Aerith. Is that her name?" He said in a monotone. "What do you want?"

"We're taking them both back," Cloud said, arming himself with that huge sword. Barrett aimed his gun at Hojo, to which the professor only blinked.

"I'd suggest you be careful of where you point that thing," he said. "I would advise against killing me; all this equipment is very delicate and, if I'm dead, who would operate it?" I started hitting against the glass harder, getting a crack. He heard me banging and glared. "Stop that!"

"What are you doing to them?" Cloud asked when he looked into Aerith's container. That creature was getting more aggressive, growling at Aerith.

"What does it look like? I'm saving their species," Hojo answered. "These two races are on the brink of extinction. I'm merely trying to prevent these animals from disappearing from the face of Gaia."

"Animal? Aerith is a human being!" Tifa yelled, outraged and disgusted. I banged on the glass harder and saw Hojo getting pissed at me.

"Will you stop that? You! Sedate her!" Oh like hell was I getting knocked out.

I took a breath, quickly took a step back, channelled life force in my arm, and forced myself through the glass with a charge. Covered in glass, still focusing, I repeated the action on Aerith's container, and pulling her to her feet, yanking her out the container. Over it all I heard alarms, Hojo yelling at his assistants, the main door opening, then eventually saw the creature launching himself at Hojo, pinning him on the ground and going for his throat. Barrett, Cloud, and Tifa ran over to us.

"Are you two okay?" Tifa asked, checking us over. I had several shards of glass sticking out my arm but that was my own fault. I started pulling them out which was probably not a clever move but they stung like no tomorrow.

"I'm okay," Aerith nodded and turned to me. "Do you still have that cure materia?"

"Uh, maybe this pocket?" I checked and, oddly, I still had it. Maybe they didn't confiscate it because it wasn't an aggressive magic? Doesn't matter I finished taking out the glass and managed to cast a weak healing spell. Aerith took it from me and her spell was stronger, sealing all the cuts I'd gotten. "Never been good with magic."

"It's practice," she said and handed it back to me. Probably was better if maybe she had the materia with healing spells but I took it anyway.

"Release Specimen HO-512!" We heard Hojo yell. The elevator inside the main container started moving and the creature stopped attacking Hojo and turned to us.

"It's rather strong, I'll help you fight," he said. Everyone was taken a little aback by the sudden speech.

"It talked?" Tifa managed to get out.

"I'll talk as much as you want later, miss," he said. "We must focus on stopping the specimen."

"He's right," I nodded and watched the elevator bring up some... fucking ghastly shit of an experiment. And I've fully confirmed Hojo is fucking mental. The cockatrice like monster reared up and ran towards us and we spread out.

The creature started casting fire spells from a materia it had in its person, firing the pellets of flame at the beast. Barrett unloaded his gun onto it as it rampaged through the lab. Tifa and Cloud went around from behind and attacked it, damaging the back and making it stumble. I ran at it head on and tackled it, knocking it into Cloud's sword and making it howl out. The beast's arm started glowing and blue orbs formed in its claw, firing out and homing in on me and sending me flying back. Aerith ran at me and started to cast a healing spell that threw me off because I knew she didn't have any materia.

"It has a command materia, be careful!" The creature warned to the others as the beast charged its hand again, this time firing lasers around the lab that everyone was trying to avoid.

"I'll take care of it!" Cloud said, leaping into the air and raising his sword above his head, severing the beast's arm clean off. The materia was still lodged in its arm as it flopped to the ground, blood pooling around it.

I got back up and charged at it, ducking under its other arm as it swiped over me, then punched its leg and made it buckle, giving way for Barrett for fire off another round into its face. It collapsed onto the ground and convulsed in its last moments. We all caught our breath and the creature went over to the experiment's arm.

"Perhaps we should take this? I'd rather Shinra not have its hands on it," he said. I looked around and sighed, opting to be the one to take the materia out. I picked up a scalpel that had fallen onto the floor and cut it out pretty easy. It was covered in blood and weird goo but I gave it a quick wipe and pocketed it.

"Everyone okay?" Cloud asked.

"I'm fine," Aerith said amongst everyone's answers.

"In many ways," Tifa added and crossed her arms.

"I have a choice too, I'm not interested in bi-pedal beings," the creature scoffed, giving Tifa a little side-eye. He looked over the Aerith. "I apologise for what happened back there, but I had to keep up an act to throw Hojo off guard."

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Well, Hojo branded me with my experiment label Red XIII," he said. "The name has absolutely no meaning to me whatsoever."

"So what's your name then?"

"You may call me Nanaki," he answered.

"Right, then let's say we get out of here," I said and looked over to Cloud, Barrett, and Tifa. "Any plans?"

"Only way down is in the elevator to the main lobby," Barrett said. "And Shinra's probably on their way now so buckle up." I nodded. I wasn't in the mood to get captured again.

The lab floors didn't have any of the main elevators to the rest of the building, so the closest one was on the sixty-sixth floor. The floors had been cleared out of employees, and no guards were to be seen. It was a short run down the stairs to the elevator but I already had the bad feeling that they'd ambush us somehow.

The six of us loaded into the elevator and Cloud pressed the button to head down to the main lobby. The doors closed and it seemed to be going down at a steady pace as though nothing was wrong but it stopped at floor sixty.

"Get away from the doors!" I ordered and pushed myself against the wall. Everyone followed suit and the doors opened. I looked in the reflection of the glass and saw Shinra soldiers as the bald Turk from before threw in a cannister of tear gas. We all started to choke and splutter, forced to come out from the elevator and I, for one, was immediately pinned down and handcuffed. I could barely see from my eyes stinging so much but I heard the others being taken down as well.

"This must have been a real thrill for you," I heard Tseng say, standing over me. "Did you enjoy it?"


	9. An Unexpected Turn

An Unexpected Turn

Aerith and I had been thrown into a cell while the others were hauled off elsewhere. I don't know what had happened to them or where they were but I hoped they were okay. We needed to get out of here. I don't know how long it had been, it felt like forever, while we sat in that cell waiting for something to happen. I had started to pace the small room, thinking over and over how we could get out, how to bypass the security, how to get a layout of the building, how to open the damn door without arousing suspicion.

"Okay, if I can blast the door open, we're near the labs," I started thinking out loud to process a plan. "There's the elevators for equipment transfer, we can use them to maybe get to... or maybe they only go between the labs floors. But the elevators are the only way down, and they could cut them off if they know we're out... if we can find the security room..."

"Christie," Aerith eventually said and caught my attention. She sat on the single bed of the cell, her eyes looking worried and her mouth down turned. "Keep this up and you'll drive yourself crazy." I sighed and stopped pacing, leaning against the wall.

"Sorry," I said. "I just want us to get out of here before something bad really happens."

"I know you do," Aerith nodded. "But it's not going to be brute-forcing through the guards, we now that went."

"Maybe I'll build up a resistance to the sedative they keep ploughing into me," I gave a half hearted laugh, as did Aerith. I sat on the floor, crossing my legs, and looked up at Aerith. She gave a small smile but I saw in her eyes she wanted to say something. "What is it?"

"How did you now know you were an Ancient?" She asked. I just sort of shrugged a little. "Didn't your parents tell you? Weren't Shinra after you?"

"They never said; I lost them when I was young," I said, trying to be vague, but informative enough to avoid any questions that would lead to my actual nature. It would be on my mum's side I got it from, considering Dad was just human, while Mum was from Spira. She had the direct ancestry to this world. "The thing I can do, with my lifeforce, Lifestream, whatever, I learned how to do it around five years ago. I never realised it was a thing only Ancients could do."

"Have you never heard the planet talk to you?" Aerith asked. My expression was answer enough for her. "You never heard a crowd of people, talking all at once, even though you're all alone? The Lifestream can be pretty noisy. I strain to make out what they're saying."

"Can you?" I asked.

"Only when I was in the church in Sector Five," Aerith said. Her head dropped a little and she frowned. "I've lived here my whole life so when the place is derived of Mako it can be kind of barren. In the church, though, I could always hear my mother over the rest of them. Recently she'd been saying that Midgar wasn't safe any more."

"Your mum?" I was a bit confused. Aerith looked at me, realising what she said.

"Oh, I meant my birth mother," she cleared up. "Marlene is with my adopted mom. She's took care of me since my mother died. I was pretty young when it happened too." I nodded and didn't want to pry any further. I knew what it was like. I could imagine her dad passed away at some point before her mum did. I knew I had to make more sense of the Ancient thing because clearly we were different from other humans.

"What do Shinra want with us?"

"They want the Promised Land," Aerith said. "They think the Ancients can take them to it. It's supposed to be a land of supreme happiness." It sounded almost like a fairytale.

"They don't want it for the eternal happiness, do they?" I asked and Aerith shook her head. "Is it even real? It sounds more like a state of mind, or an afterlife, not a real place."

"I don't even know," Aerith sighed. "I don't really know a lot about the Ancients... just things my birth mother talked about in the church because she was an Ancient too."

"Well, apart from speaking with the planet what can Ancients do?"

"Our connection with the planet is so much closer than others," Aerith said. "We speak we with it, unlock it, we can draw power from it. I'm not very good at it but I can heal injuries without a cure materia, the same way you use the planet's energy to defend yourself."

"So is that why you gave me yours then?"

"Yeah, Cloud gave it to me when we were getting away from Turks. I went along with it since I didn't want him to get suspicious," Aerith nodded. "I don't use materia that much. I have the fire one but that's it."

"How do you use materia? I've never really used it before," I asked, feeling like I was putting her through a questionnaire now.

"You know how you use your Ancient powers? It's like that, you focus on what your materia is capable of and... it happens," Aerith's explanation was the best she could give. I suppose it was just easier for people innate to magic. "Okay, next time you have a moment, take your materia, focus and listen to it. Materia are formed from the Lifestream and have the Ancient's power inside them, it's how you understand what each materia can do."

"I'll give it a go. Thanks Aerith," I said.

We heard people moving outside for a few moments and stayed quiet, trying to make out the mumblings and differentiate the voices. We heard the doors lock and steps fade away but we could hear people talking from the other side of the wall. It was hushed but we could just make it out. Aerith turned her head to the wall to listen in closer. Eventually it went quiet for a few moments.

"Cloud? Are you there?" Aerith said.

"Aerith? You're safe?" Cloud responded.

"Yeah, we're fine," she said and was smiling. "I knew you'd come for me."

"Hey, I'm your bodyguard right?" Cloud said.

"The deal was a date, right?" Aerith gave a small giggle and was smiling as she said it. I kept quiet.

"... Oh, I get it," it was Tifa's voice and Aerith's face went red and she gasped in shock.

"Tifa? I didn't know you were there," she said. We heard Tifa mumble something quieter than we could make out.

"You know Aerith, I've got a question," she said a little louder.

"Yeah?"

"Does the Promised Land really exist?" Tifa asked. Aerith sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

"I... I don't know," she said. "All I know is that the Cetra and born from the planet. We speak to it, we unlock it, then when all that's said and done... they return to the Promised Land. The Promised Land it's... it's more than words but I don't know." And that's where it makes me think it's not an actual place.

"Can you hear the planet now?" Cloud asked.

"No. I only heard it in the church," Aerith answered. "It's full of people and noisy, so that's why I can't make out what they're saying. I could always hear my birth mother over the crowds. Someday I'd get out of Midgar, speak with the planet and find my Promised Land... that's what she said." There was silence for a while.

"Is Christie with you?" Tifa suddenly said.

"Yeah, I'm here," I replied, kind of knowing where it was going.

"Are you okay?"

"As good as I can be right now."

"... Are you a Cetra, too?"

"An Ancient? Apparently," I said to Tifa and sighed. "I never knew. I never knew anything about all of this. Right now I just us to get as far from Shinra as we can."

"I know that feeling," Tifa agreed. "I'm glad you're okay, we were worried."

"I'm glad you guys are okay too," I said. "I suppose we have some proper relief once we're out of here. If we can figure something out."

"We'll get out, I know we can," Tifa assured me. "But let's just get some rest for now. We'll need it." We all agreed and I lay on the floor, letting Aerith have the bed. Sleeping on the ground wasn't unfamiliar to me anyway, as uncomfortable as it was, but there wasn't much choice here.

* * *

I woke up hearing guards talking, followed by them yelling out in pain, then ending with several thumps. My head shot up but I kept still, my eyes on the door, listening to what was going on outside. I heard footsteps shuffling slowly, closer to the door and passing by it. I heard a beep and a door open, then more footsteps heading inside the cell next to Aerith and I, where Cloud and Tifa were.

I slowly got up and quietly walked to the wall to get a better listen. The footsteps had stopped and there was nothing happening in the other room for a few moments. The person then started to walk out of the cell and down the hall again, running and their footsteps fading away. I waited a few moments before knocking on the wall.

"Tifa? Cloud?" No response. I hit a little louder. "Guys? Guys, wake up." I hit it a third time loudly, hearing some noise from the cell. It sounded like Cloud's voice. "Cloud? Cloud are you guys okay?"

"Christie, what..." his voice trailed off for a moment and there was a long silence.

"Cloud?"

"The door's open."

"I heard someone outside, I think they incapacitated the guards, they're gone now," I told him. "My door's still locked, I'm sure it's safe though."

"Okay," I heard Cloud go outside but he said nothing else for the duration. I went over to Aerith and shook her gently to wake her up. She was a bit groggy but she got up, rubbed her eyes, and looked at me.

"Something happened outside, Cloud's getting a key," I explained. I heard more footsteps then a beep and we both looked at the door, Tifa entering as it opened. She looked pale and horrified. "Tifa what's happened?"

"The guards outside, they... they've been murdered," we followed her outside to the hall. The walls were splattered with blood, the guards were eviscerated, strewn about, and a trail of blood leading out of the containment areas, freakishly quiet beyond there. Holy shit it was... it was brutal.

"I'll go ahead to check if it's clear," Nanaki spoke up, turning and heading down the hall.

"I'll go too," I said, not wanting anyone in the group to be left alone. Walking through the halls was almost like being in a sort of nightmare. Everything was quiet, everyone was dead, blood was everywhere. What the hell could have done this?

We passed the room that held all our belongings and checked inside, everyone in there was dead too but we took our stuff, the others doing the same when they caught up, and we all followed the blood into the lab area. It wasn't the part of the lab I remember being in, it looked more like a storage area. A huge container has been broken open, blood and liquid spilling onto the floor, the path of blood continuing further back.

"This is where the Jenova Specimen was contained," Nanaki spoke, carefully going ahead. "Whoever done this likely used the back elevator it seems." We heard it start to move and we all rushed towards it. Someone was going up.

It took a bit but it came back down and we all headed up on it to see who was up in the main labs. The scene was similar to the one we'd seen downstairs: bloody and everyone was dead, things were broken and everything was a mess. One of the computers was on, a file opened on the Ancient Specimens. I went over to the computer and looked at the screen, then to the door nearby that lead to the control room for the containers. The lights were off but the door was ajar. I slowly made my way to it as the others looked around the labs for any idea of who, or what, could have caused this.

I pushed open the door and felt around the side of the wall for a switch, flicking it on and coming face to face with woman I... was not in the least bit happy to see. A year younger than me, pale, brown eyes, dark red hair chopped just above her shoulders and her fringe swept to the side. She wore a red jumper, dark blue fitted jeans, dark brown ankle boots and matching coloured bomber jacket. She was frozen in place, staring at me, just as unhappy to see me as I was her.

"Fuck me," was all I could eventually say, heaving a sigh. Angel frowned, almost sneered, adjusting the cuffs of her jacket.

"I should have known this would happen eventually," she scoffed. She wasn't attacking me immediately, so at least was a plus for me. "Did you see them?"

"See what?"

"That's a no," Angel said. "Whoever killed the guards and took Jenova. I'm following the blood trail and I guess you are too."

"Christie did you find something?" Tifa asked, coming to the door and seeing Angel. She looked at me questioningly. "Do you know her?"

"Unfortunately," I said. I had a lot I wanted to ask, part of me didn't even care regardless of wanting answers. Really I didn't want to deal with her.

"Everyone!" Nanaki called. "The trail keeps going, it leads upstairs."

"We have to go," Angel said, walking past me.

"What's got you eager?" I asked with suspicion and hostility.

"Whoever is doing this has Jenova and that is _not_ a thing anyone should have," Angel snapped at me. I didn't know anything about whatever this Jenova was but, at the time, I had to take her word for it.

The trail started going up the stairs, it lead to an office floor that resembled the last two floors, and every guard and late night employee was dead. Blood was smeared into the carpets and the heavy trail lead up to the top floor that appeared to be an executive office. The executive in question was the President of Shinra.

The President himself, in question, was lying over his desk with a huge katana embedded into his back.


	10. The Breakout

The Breakout

"He's dead," Barrett said, voice coated in shock. "The President of Shinra is dead."

Tifa went around to the back of the desk, closer to the body. I saw in her eyes a flash of horror, fear, and as much surprise as everyone else. More importantly, she and Cloud recognised the weapon.

"Cloud... this weapon must be..."

"It's Sephiroth's," Cloud confirmed to her. It did nothing to calm her nerves. If anything it worsened them.

"Sephiroth is alive?" She sounded in disbelief, shaking her head.

"He has to be. Only Sephiroth can use that sword," Cloud crossed his arms, going to the desk as well. "Why would he leave his sword?"

"Who cares why, this is the end of Shinra," Barrett said.

"It's not," Angel said in response. "There's a chain of command. Someone will take over."

"Aren't you full of optimism?" Barrett scoffed. Angel just glared at him and folded her arms.

From across the room we heard someone stumble and gasp, a larger man in a brown suit started trying to get away down the stairs but Angel, being closest to him, got hold od his arm and Nanaki stood in front of him, snarling. Barret got a better grip of the guy as we al approached him.

"Please, please don't kill me!" He begged.

"What happened?" Cloud asked.

"It... it was Sephiroth," the man said. "It really was him! He spoke to the President! Sephiroth told him that he wouldn't let us have the Promised Land. Then he, he just killed the President!"

"So does that mean the Promised Land really exists?" Tifa asked. "And that Sephiroth is here to save it from Shinra?" She sounded sceptical, but hopeful, as she looked at Cloud.

"So he's a good guy, then?" Barrett added in.

"Save the Promised Land? No way," Cloud answered. "It's not that simple. I know Sephiroth; his mission is different."

The man suddenly burst free from Barrett and Angel's grasps as we were caught off guard for a moment, and started running outside to the balconies. We watched him, hearing the faint humming of a helicopter flying in. We couldn't see who was inside until it landed. Out stepped a young blond man in a white suit. The sight of him was enough to make Barrett curse aloud.

"Fuck! It's Rufus! I forgot about the bastard!"

"Rufus?" I asked.

"The President's son. The Vice President of Shinra," Barrett explained. "Ain't no person who's ever seen him bleed or cry. Been away of some extended business trip, until now."

"Now he's the new President of Shinra," I finished, watching two men speak to one another. "Maybe he's different from his dad?"

"Doubt it, all of Shinra are bad seeds," Barrett replied.

"Well, then how about Avalanche welcome him in," I said and started to head outside. I took the helm as everyone followed me out. The helicopter was still active, the blades circling and causing a gust of wind to kick up. The men continued talking and Rufus eyed us as we came into his eyesight. He dismissed the other man, who ran into the helicopter, and watched us stoically. I had my eyes locked with his. He didn't move, it barely looked like he was breathing. He definitely was not intimidated by our appearance.

"Just who are you?" He asked slowly.

"We're Avalanche," I said before anyone else could speak. We kept eyes with one another, his briefly scanning the rest of the team. His mouth curled into a smirk ever so slightly, and ever so briefly, before pushing hair from his face nonchalantly.

"What a crew," he said. He took a few steps forward, standing directly in front of me. We still kept our eyes on one another. His face gave nothing away. "I'm Rufus. The President of Shinra."

"You're only the President because your old man died," Barrett sneered. Rufus quickly side glanced him in silence before settling his eyes back on me.

"Correct. I'll let you hear my inauguration speech," he said and started to walk through our group. "Father liked to control the world with money. And that worked for him... for a time. The people believed Shinra would protect them." He continued walking through the group, probably trying to intimidate us, or analyse us, or both. "Work for Shinra, get your pay. If terrorists attack, the Shinra army will protect you. It looked perfect on the outside." He walked on the outer part of the group, purposefully passing Barrett as he said that last sentence. "But I prefer to do things differently. Why spend so much time, effort, and money on the common people when all you need is a little fear. There's no reason to waste all that on them when fear will sway them into doing whatever you please." He ended where he started, standing in front of me.

"He likes to make speeches, just like his father," Tifa frowned.

"So are you done?" I asked Rufus. He gave a small, smug, smirk.

"Are you waiting for something?"

"I'm waiting to see if you can an ally or not," I eyed him, my voice even. I knew this kind of game. "So far you're not doing yourself any favours."

"I didn't realise I was here to impress you."

"I didn't realise you were trying to scare me," I countered. I looked him up and down, only turning away when Cloud put a hand on my shoulder.

"Get Aerith and the others out of the building," he said. I glanced at the others then at him. "Go. This is bigger than Shinra. I'll explain later." I shook my head, but put a hand on his shoulder and let him deal with Rufus ad I motioned the others to come with me.

* * *

We took the elevator down to the ground floor lobby, hoping the front door would be the easiest way for escape. That plan went down the drain as soon as we reached the front doors. There was already what looked like a large portion of the Shinra army standing waiting for us. They raised their guns when we were in their line of sight and we all ran for cover, the glass doors shattering and the gunfire ringing in our ears. Barrett was firing back at them periodically, while Angel flung a few fireballs at them.

"There's no way we can take them all!" Angel called across from her cover. "We need a better plan!"

"All of you get out while you can," Aerith insisted. "It's me their after, you can all still get away."

"Aerith I told you, we're all leaving here," I said and peered over the cover, seeing some soldiers throw something at us. "Grenades! Move back!"

We just missed the explosions, getting back to behind a stone mural. Fuck we were surrounded and there was no way back to the elevators without being shot at. I looked around for any other way. Wait, there were elevators at the back of the lobby as well that could take us back up and we could maybe take a stairwell back down to get away. At the very least it would funnel the soldiers coming at us.

"Barret! Christie!" We looked up and saw Tifa on the floor above us. She ran down the stairs and vaulted over the bannister to reach us. "Hurry! This way!"

"Where's Cloud?" Barrett asked as Tifa ran to a truck displayed in front of us, getting the door open with no problem.

"He's coming, just hurry and get in the truck," she said breathlessly as she began to hotwire the truck. Aerith got into the passenger's side, while the rest of us loaded into the back. In a couple of moments the truck roared to life and Tifa got in, and soon we were accompanied by Cloud riding a motorcycle.

He motioned his head to follow him and Tifa started driving, somehow forcing the truck up the flight of stairs and positioning it across from the windows. Cloud started revving, as did Tifa, and we didn't even need to be told to hold onto something.

Through some sheer stroke of luck both the motorcycle and the truck crashed through the glass and onto the motorway. Tifa's foot pressed right down on the accelerator as we drove to escape the Shinra building. Cloud had slowed down a little behind us, checking behind for any sort of pursuit. It didn't take long for some Shinra troops to be on our trail.

"Spiky! Watch your ass out there!" Barrett yelled, unloading his gun at some troops further back. Cloud was already locking his sword into the bikes of those that got too close but there was a lot of them. A couple broke past Cloud and through Barrett's gunfire to reach our truck. On one side Angel threw a fireball into the face of one, while I grabbed the gun from a soldier's hand and shot him point blank. I didn't have as much range as Barrett, nor nearly as much ammo, but I'd make do.

It was hard to line shots up so I waited in case any of them got too close, firing at them when I knew I'd get a hit. Thankfully there only seemed to be a handful of the squad in total so once we had gained enough distance from the Shinra building and taken them out it looked like we were in the clear.

Tifa had the truck come to a stop when we reached the end of the motorway. It was partway through construction, probably to outside Midgar or they were planning on expanding the Plate, I didn't know. The sky was getting lighter as the sun rose up, it was odd that I hadn't even kept track of the time. And it'd been so long since I'd even seen the sky, now that I thought about it. We all stared out to the empty wastelands that surrounded Midgar. Everything was so quiet but... peaceful, almost. We were finally able to stop and take a breath.

"Well, what do we do now?" Barrett asked, turning to look at Cloud. I remembered what he had said in the Shinra building: that whatever this Sephiroth character was involved in, it was far bigger than the company.

"Sephiroth is alive..." Cloud spokealmost as though he was thinking to himself as he walked closer to the edge of the motorway. He then looked over to us. "I have to settle the score."

"Will that save the planet?" Barrett asked.

"Looks like it," Cloud shrugged, not really knowing the answer.

"Well, then I'm going," Barrett told him.

"Me too," Aerith said, joining the two men as the rest of us walked to join them. "There are things I need to know."

"About the Ancients?" Cloud asked. Aerith paused, looked at Cloud, then looked into the distance to the wastelands.

"Many things," was the cryptic reply. She then looked at me. "What about you, Christie?"

"I'm in the same boat as you," I told her. "Saving the world doesn't sound like too hard of a job." I heard Angel scoff slightly and I turned my gaze to her. "What are going to do?" She was silent, glanced around, then folded her arms.

"If you're intent on finding Sephiroth, there's a high possibility you'll be going to Nibelheim," she answered, getting quick looks from Tifa and Cloud. "I'll go as far as that."

"And I'll go with you as far as Cosmo Canyon," Nanaki added in. I looked at him with a small, questioning look. "It's my home; I wish to return."

"Well, I guess this is goodbye Midgar," Tifa spoke as we stood at the edge of the construction site. There was a crane nearby, a chain dangling right now. Tifa went over to it and peered over the edge. "I think we can get down with this."

"Easy for you to say," Nanaki grumbled.

"I'll go first," I said, not bothering about behind the one to check if it was safe enough. I took a running leap and grabbed the chain, starting to clamber my way down carefully. It was definitely a long way down but as long as kept a firm grip we'd be fine.

I warned them about the bit of a drop at the very bottom as I grabbed the hook then let go, dropping onto the dusty ground outside of Midgar. Everyone eventually followed, with a little difficulty with Nanaki but he was surprisingly dexterous for being a quadroped. Cloud was the last of us to drop down and we all sort of... stood about with no aim as to where to go. Where would we even start looking for Sephiroth? I didn't even know what the world beyond Midgar was like. This felt like Spira all over again.

"Where do we go from here?" I asked, directing the question at Cloud.

"Hey, what you asking him for? You forgetting who leads Avalanche?" Barrett asked, getting a little defensive. I wasn't in the mood.

"Cloud's the reason we're going after Sephiroth, by all means he should take the lead," I reasoned. Tifa put a hand under her chin and hummed quietly.

"She's not wrong, Barrett," she said. Barrett let out a huge sigh and gave in.

"Well fuck it then, looks like you're leading spiky," he said. "But you gotta explain what connects Sephiroth and the crisis of the planet. Makes no sense from where I'm standing."

"I will, once we're safe," Cloud nodded. "There's a town not far from hear, across the wastelands, near the shores."

"Yeah, Kalm," Barrett said. "Looks like we're headed there then. Shouldn't take us more than a day to get there by foot, if we're lucky."

With our course set, we headed for the next town over. The town called Kalm, where Cloud would explain just who Sephiroth was.


	11. The Story of Five Years Ago

The Story of Five Years Ago

When we arrived in Kalm it was very late at night. We spent a lot of the journey quiet, trying to conserve out strength since we left Midgar seriously under prepared. Some of us were capable of walking the whole day, others weren't as used to it. There wasn't a whole lot to take in scenery wise; the place was desolate around Midgar. It looked as though the damage from the reactors had really taken its toll, and when we even got past the wasteland the grass looked dull, dry, and really it was sad looking.

Kalm itself was fairly quiet. Big for a town but nowhere near the size of a city. A lot of the buildings were old fashioned looking, the streets were wide and there were still quite a few people about, probably going for drinks or heading home. It was still better getting into town late at night rather than during the day so less people would see us. No doubt Shinra was going to be looking for us.

"We'll find a place to stay the night, get supplies, and head out in the morning," Cloud said as we passed a busy bar. People were talking, cheering, and laughing inside, just going about their regular business.

"You think we can get something to eat?" Aerith asked. Truth was none of us had really ate since leaving Midgar. Actually with all that's been going on I can't remember the last time I properly ate.

"Aerith's right, I'm starving," Tifa agreed. It was then decided that it'd be easier to find a place to spend the night, order food and have it in. Let's face it not many decent places where going to be open this late. I think at this point no one really cared though, food was food.

The first placed we found was just called the Kalm Inn, and our hope was that there was room available, even just one, to avoid us roughing it for the night. There was a woman working at the reception desk, looking fairly awake if a little bored, becoming alert when we opened the door and poured inside. I saw her eyes going over our group but she didn't appear to be shocked, confused, or question it. Instead she gave a bright and welcoming smile.

"Hi, welcome to Kalm Inn, how can I help?" She asked, her eyes going over everyone to see who was the head of the group, settling on Cloud when he stepped forward.

"Do you have any rooms available?" He asked her. She looked over us again, counting us as she did so.

"I won't require a bed, if that's any help to you at all," Nanaki pointed out. The woman smiled and nodded at him, not in the least bit phased by him speaking.

"No problem, so that's six beds in total. Give me a moment," she went to the computer screen and was quiet for a few moments. She bit her bottom lip as she waited on something. Then she looked up at us again. "I have a family room and a twin single, if that's any help at all?"

"We'll take them," Cloud nodded.

"Okay, great. How many nights are you staying?"

"Just tonight?"

"Would you like breakfast included with your stay?"

"No thanks."

"Not a problem. Check out is eleven in the morning at the latest. If you could just fill this out, usual nonsense for our records, and I'll get your keys," she handed Cloud a form and a pen and headed to the back of the desk t get the keys. As Cloud quickly scribbled stuff in she went back to the computer and typed a few things, taking the forms back from Cloud when he was done. "Okay, that's sorted. Now will you pay now or at checkout tomorrow morning?"

"In the morning," Cloud answered.

"Okay, no problem. If you'll just come with me I'll show you to your rooms," she got up from behind the desk and directed us to follow her. "Your rooms are just down the halls from another on the second floor," we went up the flights of stairs and reached the second floor. We passed one door and she took one of the keys and opened the room. "This is the family room. You have your bathroom just through that door, kettle with tea and coffee there. And this," she directed us three doors down and opened the other room, "is the twin single, bathroom through there and kettle with tea and coffee just there." She handed Cloud the keys. "If you need anything else, I'll be on the rest of the night. My name's Nevina."

"Where's the best for ordering food?" I asked. "I didn't think your kitchens would be open this late." Nevina gave a quick smile and brushed a lose strand of hair back behind her ear.

"Anything in particular you've agreed on? Do any of you have dietary requirements?" She asked. We all shook our heads of gave hums to confirm we were fine. She thought for a moment about where to recommend. "Well, I know a few good places: pizza, fish and chips, curry. There is a place that serves kebabs nearby but I'd recommend several pints before going for it."

"Pizza sounds good," Aerith pondered.

"Anything sounds good right now," Barrett added. "Just get us whatever."

"It won't take log; get yourselves settled in and it'll be here in no time. I'll call up to the family room when they're here," Nevina smiled and moved past us, heading back down to the main desk. When she was gone Cloud locked the twin room and we all piled into the family room. I sat on one of the single beds, Angel on the other, Aerith and Tifa on the double, Barrett took one of the seats while Cloud took another, and Nanaki settled himself on the floor.

"Alright spiky, now you going to tell us what Sephiroth's got to do with the crisis of the planet?" Barrett asked. Cloud took a breath in and crossed his arms. "Come on, let's hear it all."

Cloud was silent for a few moments, recollecting his memories of something that had happened. His brows furrowed, then he looked up at all of us.

"I used to want to be like Sephiroth, so I joined Soldier," he started. "You heard a lot about him and his heroics for Shinra years back, how he almost single-handedly won the war with Wutai. Amongst other things. Everyone wanted to be a Soldier... I was one of the lucky ones that got in. Even luckier that I reached First Class, same as Sephiroth. We worked on a couple of missions together. Eventually we sort of became friends."

"You were friends with Sephiroth?" Angel asked, her own brows furrowed but she sounded genuinely curious. Cloud paused for a lengthy time again, then shrugged.

"Well, he was older than me and hardly ever talked about himself," he corrected. "So I suppose he was more of a war buddy; we trusted each other. Then one day..." he paused again, looking out the window. "Well, after the war it was Soldier's job to eliminate any resistance against Shinra. It was five years ago. I was sixteen. The mission was to investigate a malfunction at a town's local Reactor. Shinra suspected it was some form of resistance group trying to sabotage the power supply, but the started filling up with mutated monsters from the reactor. Orders were to kill the creatures, locate the source of the problem, and secure the area from any further threats. The town... it was Nibelheim, our hometown," he looked over to Tifa but she remained silent, only nodding to urge him to keep going. "I remember being in the truck to Nibelheim as Sephiroth was briefing me. It was us, and two Shinra grunts on the mission, to keep it quiet but get the job done quick. We ended up getting intercepted by one of the mutated creatures on the road there. Sephiroth just stepped out of the truck and just... destroyed it with his Masamune, the sword only he can wield. Sephiroth's strength is incredible. He's far stronger in reality than any story you may have heard about him."

"So where do you come in?" Aerith asked, leaning forward on the bed in interest. Cloud bashfully rubbed the back of his head.

"Me? I was mesmerised by the way Sephiroth fought," he answered. I furrowed my brow.

"But you'd seen him fight on previous missions, right?" I asked. "Wouldn't you have been used to seeing him fight, or went out to help?" Cloud paused again. His pauses were getting uncomfortably long now.

"You don't get used to seeing Sephiroth fight," was his answer. I just shrugged in response and let him continue. "When we reached Nibelheim, I remember Sephiroth asking me about the place. I hadn't come back at all, not since I left to join Soldier. He asked how it felt to return home; he never had a hometown he could remember. He never knew his father, and his mother, Jenova, died not long after giving birth to him."

"Jenova?" Angel suddenly blurted in surprise. "He told you his mother's name was Jenova?"

"You mean that headless spook back in the Shinra building? That's Sephiroth's mom?" Barret asked.

"Yeah, that's right."

"We can ask questions later," Tifa interrupted hurriedly. "Cloud, keep going."

"The town was pretty quiet when we got there. I don't if people were more afraid of the monsters, or of Shinra," Cloud said. "We were to leave for the reactor in the morning, so Sephiroth gave me leave to visit my family and friends."

"The childhood friends reunite," Aerith smiled.

"I went to Tifa's house... the door was open," Cloud's voice trailed off and another long pause came.

"Cloud... did you go into my house?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah... I thought you might be home," he nodded. "I remember going to your piano... I played something, for a little bit... but no was there, so I left. Then I went to my mom's house." The pause was thick, his brow furrowed, he shook his head. "No... that had nothing to do with five years ago."

"But you visited your family right?" Barrett asked.

"I wouldn't call it a family... my father died when I was still young... so my mother lived alone after I left for Soldier..." Cloud's breaks in thought were getting longer. "She was... a vibrant woman. She hadn't changed at all. But... a few days later she died. She looked fine when I saw her." After a moment he shook his head. "... Let's stop this. It has nothing to do with what happened. Nothing happened the rest of that day, so we went to sleep and prepared to head out the next day. Sephiroth hired a guide to the Reactor, someone who knew the mountain trails. In the morning I saw Tifa again; she was the guide." I took a glance at Tifa, seeing her nod once with her eyes still focused on Cloud, but I ntoiced a quick glimmer change in her eyes. "One of the people in town took our picture before we left. Me, Tifa, and Sephiroth."

"Sorry, can I stop you there?" I asked. When Cloud looked at me I could already see the cogs turning in his head. "You hadn't seen Tifa in years, and you come back as a Soldier and she's your guide. Weren't either of your surprised at seeing each other again?" I could feel Tifa's eyes bore into me but I didn't return the gaze, instead watching Cloud as he recollected the memory.

"Well... of course I was surprised Tifa was the guide, she was only fifteen at the time," he answered. "I knew the mountains were dangerous, and didn't want her in danger if there were more monsters than usual. But you'd started training with Zangan at the time, right Tifa?"

"Yeah..." Tifa nodded, her voice faint. She cleared her throat. "Anyway, when we went to the mountain, remember the bridge?"

"Yeah, we ended up having to go through the mountain caverns," Cloud said. "There's a natural Mako fountain in the caverns, I remember we passed it. It didn't take us long to get to the Reactor, but only Sephiroth and I went inside: we couldn't let anyone see classified Shinra information on accident. I remember hearing Tifa tell the grunt with us to take care of her while we were inside. Turned out the problem was a broken Mako valve. But... there were other things inside that Reactor. One room was sealed off, but it was marked "Jenova"... outside of it were these pods. Hojo was using them to condense Mako into materia... but inside the pod he had put humans in along with the Mako."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Aerith asked after a gasp.

"The levels they were exposed to, yeah," Cloud nodded. "Normally Soliders are exposed to a certain degree of Mako to give us our strength. It's built up gradually to minimise the risk of Mako poisoning. These people... it had went past that stage and into full blown mutation." What the fuck? Mako can do that? Why would you do that to someone? What the actual fuck?

"But why?" Was Aerith's question before I could get it out.

"Hojo was obviously using them as experiments," Angel answered for Cloud. "You all passed through his lab; I'm sure that gave you an idea that he specialises in perverting the laws of nature." We all nodded at Angel's analysis because it was dead on.

"That's when Sephiroth snapped," Cloud continued. "He was different from normal Soldiers, he started drawing parallels between himself and the monsters. He started questioning if he was even human. I didn't really understand what Sephiroth mean then. I was even more surprised that Shinra was producing monsters."

"... Who would have thought the Reactors held such a horrible secret?" Tifa mused aloud.

"Damn Shinra! The more I hear, the more I hate them!" Barret growled.

Some of us jumped when the phone rang. When we answered we remember about the food we requested, and a couple of us went down to the front desk to get it from the woman working there. She said it would just be added onto our bill in the morning. We decided on a quick breather to eat and we'd all been grateful after having nothing for so long. It filled a hole definitely. I was just glad we'd managed to get food at all.

"So Tifa," Aerith asked as we were finishing off. "You were waiting outside the Reactor?" Tifa was silent for a good while.

"... Yes," she finally replied. "I noticed the change in Sephiroth as they left the Reactor. He said nothing as we back into town."

"He confined himself to the inn," Cloud nodded. "He wouldn't speak to anyone."

"Then he just disappeared all of a sudden, right?" Tifa recalled.

"We found him in the biggest building the Nibelheim," Cloud said.

"The Shinra mansion," Tifa nodded. "A long time ago people from Shinra's early days used to live there."

"I searched the entire place for him but only found him through a secret entrance to a hidden lab," Cloud said. "The place was filled with old Shinra research, and Sephiroth was pouring through it, reciting everything aloud but he was oblivious to everything around him. He didn't even notice me or hear me speaking to him. Sephiroth didn't come out of the Shinra mansion... I tried to bring him food but he wouldn't eat or sleep. He continued to read as if he were possessed by something, and not once, did the light in the basement go out..."

"What did he find?" Angel asked.

"It was something called the "Jenova Project"," I watched Angel shift slightly at the answer. "When Jenova was confirmed to be an Ancient they wanted to produce a human with Ancient capabilities; at the time it was believed the Cetra were extinct. Sephiroth was the result of the project." Cloud took a sharp breath and shut his eyes. "One night... that's when he snapped completely. He believed himself to be the true heir to the planet because of what he found in the reports. Then he... wanted to see his mother and..." he shook his head. He clenched his fists. "He just... burned Nibelheim. I ran out to follow him and he'd already set the entire town ablaze. He killed everyone who got in his way of the Reactor. I had to follow him to try and stop him. Tifa's father had followed Sephiroth to do the same... but I found him dead, and Tifa was there... Sephiroth had left Masamune impaled on her dad and... she took it and tried to kill Sephiroth but... he almost killed her. I don't know how you survived." Tifa was completely silent throughout. "I had to get revenge. I followed Sephiroth into the Jenova chamber. He wanted to return the planet to his mother and kill everyone he thought was a traitor to the Ancients and be the leader of the planet... I couldn't let him do it." Cloud took another breath and looked at us as we waited for him to go on. He shrugged. "That's it. That's the end of my story."

We all started giving noises of surprise and general confusion as to such an abrupt ending to this event. Surely there was a fight or something? Anything?

"What a fascinating story," Nanaki commented evenly.

"Wait a damn minute! What happened to Sephiroth?" Barrett asked.

"... I don't remember," Cloud shrugged. "In terms of skill, I couldn't have killed him."

"Shinra officially declared Sephiroth dead not long after..." Tifa pointed out.

"All I know if that I confronted Sephiroth and lived. I don't know why he didn't kill me. I need to know what happened," Cloud said.

"A lot of this... doesn't make sense," Aerith bit her lip and wondered. "What about Jenova? It was in the Shinra building, right?"

"It was shipped from Nibelheim to Midgar," Cloud responded. "And Sephiroth's probably taken it from the building to... wherever it is that's he's going."

"None of this makes any damn sense, spiky!" Barrett's voice was getting really agitated.

"Look guys, it's late, we're all tired, we've only just ate, maybe if we sleep on it this will all make sense in the morning," I interrupted in an attempt to diffuse the situation before it started.

"Christie's right..." Tifa said before looking at Cloud. "But... how bad was I after Sephiroth...?"

"Like I said; I don't know how you survived. A thought you were a goner... I was really sad," Cloud said. "Let's get some sleep, we'll meet up in the morning and plan where to go."

When the guys left we decided it was probably the best idea to get some sleep if we were going to leave early. I gave Tifa a look to see if she was okay. She looked over and gave us a weak smile but said nothing. There were a few more questions that I wanted to ask both her and Cloud about Nibelheim but it would have to wait until tomorrow.


	12. Chasing a Lead

Chasing a Lead

It was a few hours later, in the early morning, when I got up and decided to shower. I figured if we'd be travelling on foot I may as well get one in before we head off. It gave me time to properly think about what we should be packing, find a map, chart out how long it'd take on foot to get to the next town or city or some sort of settlement. I wasn't sure how any of them would handle the long treks at first but we'd all become accustomed to it either way. Long walks across continents was something I was familiar with anyway.

The only problem was if we were going to find Sephiroth where would we even begin? We couldn't just wander aimlessly.

I think our best bet was to go the Nibelheim, specifically the Reactor. It was the last place he was seen alive but, beyond that, it was a long shot. I wasn't sure how Tifa or Cloud would feel about going back; the place must be a ghost town. It may have been their home but I doubt they felt compelled to go back after their last memories of it.

I still hadn't said anything but I didn't know what to make of Cloud's story. He was a Soldier, he was at Nibelheim, he knew Sephiroth, but it was Tifa's reactions that made me feel like things weren't adding up. They were childhood friends, yet no big deal was made of their first meeting since Cloud left. He glossed over a lot of it, but maybe it was just to get to the main point. I don't know and all I could do right now was take Cloud's word for it.

When I came out of the shower everyone else was starting to waken up. It was still early enough for everyone to get ready before we check out. I actually still felt a little hungry and part of me kind of wished Cloud had included breakfast. Suppose we'd get stuff before we leave Kalm anyway.

Everyone pretty much got showered and ready when Cloud, Barrett, and Nanaki came to check on us and see if we were ready. We weren't that far off, so they waited a couple of minutes before we were sorted and head out the room. A different person was at the front desk this time, a man just getting off the phone. We handed back the keys and I was kind of glad I still had a good amount of gil on hand from Spira, plus whatever anyone else had on them, so at least our money would be covered.

"Let's see... you don't have to pay anything," we all looked at him in confusion when he said that. "It was paid last night."

"We said we would pay in the morning," Tifa said to him. He checked over the computer to see if there was a mistake.

"Hmm... no, the receipt is here. It's all paid," he insisted. "Oh, hold on... this was addressed to your room to give to you on checkout." He went under the desk and produced a box, medium sized, not desperately heavy looking. Cloud took the box and nodded. "And that's all. Thank you for staying with us. We hope to see you again soon."

We all left the Kalm Inn feeling confused. We walked away from the Inn to a quiet place down at the shops and sat at a bench. We were a little apprehensive at the box but Cloud opened it anyway. Inside were seven phones and a note on top. Cloud took the note out and we all read it quietly.

 _Think you'll need these._

 _If you don't know, there are rumours of a man in a black cape heading towards the swamps and Mythril Mines. Shinra might also be pursuing these rumours._

 _Be careful._

It was surprising and somewhat suspicious that someone would anonymously help us. It was probably the same person who paid for our rooms but why would anyone do that anyway? It didn't make sense but I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. We had nothing right now and needed all the help we could get.

And if following a rumour of a man in a black cape was our lead... then I suppose we should follow it.

"How far away are the mines?" I asked to break the long, debating silence.

"Really Chris? You're going to trust whoever gave us these things?" Barrett gave me a disapproving look. "This could be Shinra's way of tracking us, those things could be bugged for all we know. Thought you were smarter than that."

"Right now we don't have anything else," I argued. "We need to find Sephiroth and this is our only lead. If it's a trap, at least we can prepare to counteract it."

"If he's going through the Mythril Mines there's a chance he's heading to Junon," Cloud thought aloud. He was silent for a moment, then nodded to himself. "We'll head to the mines."

"You guys are serious..." Barrett scoffed. "All right, fine, but I still think this is a Shinra trap."

Cloud handed out the phones and split us into groups to get supplies for the trip. With any luck we wouldn't get lost heading to the mines if it was easily signposted, and some of the people in town were helpful in giving directions of the quickest way to get there on foot. One thing we were warned about was the Midgar Zolom, a huge serpent creature, was acting rather aggressively recently so they had to shut down the mines temporarily until Shinra dealt with it. Through the mines was still the quickest way through the mountains and across to Junon, so we were going that way no matter what. If we get caught by the Zolom then at least we could be doing Kalm a service.

I had finished buying food supplies with Tifa, since we both knew how to cook we took over that area while everyone else got camping equipment and medicinal supplies along with anything else we might have needed. It was just the two of us so we were quick enough getting everything we needed to cook with alongside utensils and the like. Tifa was quiet, us only really talking to make sure we had enough to last us until the next town, or a bit more if we had to take longer routes. We were starting to head back to the meeting point when I decided to try ask Tifa what was on my mind.

"Did all of that happen?" I asked as we walked away from the shops. "In Nibelheim, I mean. I know the last time I asked it was a sore subject... but did all of that happen in the space of a few days?"

"... All of it happened," Tifa answered after staying in uncomfortable silence.

"I just... felt like he was kind of vague, you know?" I continued, hoping to get something out of her.

"I suppose it's still raw with Cloud," Tifa reasoned. "Trauma can... put blank spots in people's memories."

"Yeah, you're right," I nodded. We continued along the street towards the edge of town, where we'd meet everyone else. "How did you get out? Do you remember?"

"My teacher, Zangan, got me out of the Reactor," she said. "I went in and out of consciousness until we reached Midgar for medical care. After that I joined Avalanche and fought against Shinra ever since." She sighed and shook her head. "Sorry, Christie, everything that happened then... it all happened so fast sometimes I'm not what I remember is real or not."

"Tifa, it's okay," I assured her. "I'm sure whatever you remember is what actually happened... but maybe your brain is blocking out the trauma." Tifa nodded in silent agreement. I didn't pry any further, knowing I'd get nowhere.

Everyone got back to the meeting point fairly quickly, everyone meeting back about the same time. We checked over all our equipment, making sure we had everything we possibly needed until the next town over. None of us really knew how long it'd take to get to the swamp, mines, and passing through to Junon, but we were just going to have to walk it from here on out. I guess this was the real start of our journey to find Sephiroth and save the planet from him and Shinra.


	13. Crossing the Swamp

Crossing the Swamp

We'd been walking all day and it was getting dark. We'd actually came across a path heading into the mountains labelled "Cliff Resort", that held an entire ghost town. I thought even maybe a couple of people would be living there but it was literally nobody. All the houses were deserted and it looked like no one had been there in forever. Naturally the doors were locked to all the houses and the small shops. It wasn't until we found a small, one bedroom house further back that had an unlocked door. It only had the bedroom, bathroom, and an open plan kitchen and living room. It didn't look lived in at all but it was still weird that it was the only one open. We decided to take a break in there while Cloud, Barrett, and Angel went to look for bigger houses, or if any windows were open, or just any way to break into the other places for somewhere to sleep.

I looked around the house while we were waiting. There was no food in the fridge, though there were plates and cutlery, cups and the like in the cupboards. The power was still running, oddly enough, and everything was still running pretty well. It seemed really odd that a place like this was totally deserted. It didn't really look like a town, though, but the name alone was enough to guess it was a holiday destination. Even then why was it abandoned?

I offered to get started on making food for everyone after looking around the house. We were all that hungry we were getting drained so, at least if everyone ate, we wouldn't feel as crap. If we can get some more houses open then that would also mean enough beds for a decent sleep.

"Hey, you need any help?" Aerith asked while I was chopping up some onions.

"Um, yeah, sure, can you boil that kettle for me?" I nodded. "I heard the door there, did Tifa go out to help the guys?"

"Yeah, just to check if there's any luck with other places," Aerith said. "What are you making anyway?"

"Soup. It's quick and it uses some of the fresher stuff we bought," I answered. "Got some ideas for other things we can have. Just because we're on the road doesn't mean we have to eat terrible food."

"So you do a lot of cooking?"

"Well, yeah, I travelled a lot when I was younger. Figured if I was going to have to learn it, I might as well learn to do it well," I said, moving on to the carrots. "Though it mostly fish and vegetable things I make, other meat dishes not so much." I looked over to Aerith. "How about you? You know how to cook?"

"From what my mom taught me," she nodded. "Though the Slums doesn't have a lot to offer in the ways culinary delights. Still, I know enough to not go hungry or make myself sick." I nodded and kept prepping the food. "Um, Christie, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What do you think we'll find?"

"I don't know," I answered fairly quickly. "I mean, what have we even got to go on? A note from a stranger, Sephiroth wandering around the planet plotting who knows what, Shinra's probably going to try stop us at every single chance... we could find absolutely anything, Aerith."

"Hopefully history about the Ancients will be in there somewhere," Aerith said. We heard the door and peered over to seeing the others pour into the house, bar Angel. Aerith went to see them. "Any luck?"

"Got a few open, so we should be good for the night," Barrett answered. "That girl's a weird one. She just picked a place and hasn't come out." I sighed and finished chopping the vegetables, put water in the pot, then set the lid on top. I moved from the cooker and leaned on the counter. Barrett looked over to me. "Yo Chris, you two know another. What's her deal?"

"I don't know her that well," I shrugged. "We travelled for a while when I was younger but she was always very closed off and we didn't leave on the best of terms." I knew I'd have to explain sooner of later so might as well clear it up now. I pointed to my face, "she's the reason this happened."

"How did she do that?" Nanaki asked curiously.

"Angel ended up turning on the group; I fought her but she got the upper hand and used fire magic on me," I explained. "Her uncle ended up saving my life. It was... it was very messy, let's just put it that way."

"Are you okay with her travelling with us?" Tifa asked, one of her hands resting over her heart, still a little shocked from what I'd said.

"Not really; I thought she'd be gone already or tried something," I admitted. "I don't what she wants or why she's still around... but I want to know. I'll try ask now."

"You're not going alone," Tifa said.

"Tifa, I'll be fine," I assured her and started to head out the house before anyone else said anything. I was ready to kill Angel if she tried to attack me. If she really wanted to do that she would have done so in the Shinra building. I was just curious about a few things.

The house she was in wasn't too far from the one we'd found open. I saw her walking about the house through one of the windows and went to the front door. I decided to be polite and knock, but only got silence in response. The door was open so I pushed it and went inside. Angel had sat herself on the length of the couch, watching me as I entered. We eyed each other up and remained silent for a few moments. Angel didn't make any moves and didn't have her sword on her. She also didn't look too happy to see me.

"... What do you want?" She asked with a bite.

"Just letting you know that dinner should be ready soon-ish," I replied with a bitter tone.

"Well great," Angel nodded to the door to get me to leave. I crossed my arms over my chest.

"You don't have to stick about; you clearly don't want to be here," I told her.

"Annoyingly enough your little group is my best chance at getting to Nibelheim without Shinra knowing. That's all I want. After that I'm gone," Angel replied. "I don't need to play nice. I'll keep out the way just like I did back on the Pilgrimage."

"Better not end the way the Pilgrimage did."

"Don't flatter yourself," Angel scoffed. "Might be a surprise but I'm not interested in killing you. Really, I don't even know how, or why, you're here. I don't care, either. I'm not here to make friends with your group and I'm not here to play nice. Once I get to Nibelheim I'm gone and, hopefully, we'll never see each other again."

"So your whole mission right now's just a big secret? Fine, have it your way," I said. I knew I wouldn't get further with her. Before I left I looked her dead in the eye and indicated to my face. "They know you did this, just to warn you. And if you try anything don't expect me to stand by." She didn't respond. I heard her scoff as I opened the door and left to head back to the others.

* * *

The next morning we headed out again, the path signposting to a chocobo farm not far out from the swamps. Cloud had decided we should head to the farm and see if any of the chocobos can be used to cross the swamp quicker, especially if that Midgar Zolom was actively hunting people.

The farm itself was a fair size. There must have been half a dozen or so chocobos out the front in a pen roaming around with a house and barn just up the path behind it. There were a couple of windmills and a water tower as well. We could see some people up at the barn and approached them. The younger girl was a little surprised at people approaching them, so it must have been a quiet place normally. The younger boy went to check on the girl while the older man came to speak with us.

"Well, how can I help you folks?" He asked, gazing over us to see who was the leader of the group.

"We need to cross the swamp. Can we borrow your chocobos?" Cloud asked. The man looked over out group and frowned. I could already tell his answer. "We need to pass through the mines and the swamp is the fastest way through." Cloud tried to explain further.

"Boy, I know that," the man said. "But I just don't have enough chocobos to spare right now. All the ones out here are racing birds and if any of them get hurt that's my neck on the line."

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Aerith asked, hoping he'd give way to something.

"Sorry, my hands are tied," the man said.

"Well, can you at least tell us a safe way to cross the swamp?" I asked. The man gave a chuckle and shook his head.

"Well, with those Zoloms acting up my best advice would be to keep quiet, move quick, and if one sees you then you'd best book it out of there as quick as you can," he said to us. We all glanced at one another at the plural of Zolom. "What? You thought it was just one? Ah don't worry, common misunderstanding. Normally it's the big one people worry about, but the little ones are just as angry right now."

"And... all of them are equally as dangerous?" I frowned.

"Afraid so, miss," the man nodded. "If you had the time you could always go out and catch your own chocobo... but if you're in a hurry good luck finding one and having it listen to you within the hour."

"We're kind of in a hurry," Cloud said.

"Well, then it's either swamp or through the mountains. Sure, through the swamp and the mines is the quicker way. But there's less monsters in the mountains wanting you for supper," the man continued. "Look, if you're that set on the swamp then take my advice and stay on the road. Before the mines shut down because of the Zoloms they had a fair beaten road crossing the swamp. You're still taking a risk but it's better than wading through the murk."

"We'll take the risk," Cloud nodded. "Thanks anyway."

"Sorry I couldn't be more of a help. But, listen, feel free to stay for a bit. You kids look like you've been travelling for a while and could use a break," the man said. "Sorry, the name's Bill. There's my two kids Billy and Chloe."

Bill offered to get us some food and drink before we left. He was actually so nice and felt bad about leaving us with no safe way to cross the swamps but he couldn't let the racing chocobos be at risk. It was understandable, if a little frustrating for us. I knew money was a little tight for us but I still slipped some gil on the counter while no one was looking. It was the least I felt I could do for him giving us something to eat.

Most of the time I spent at the pen watching the chocobos run around. I hadn't seen the birds in what felt like forever. The Mi'ihen Highroad had started reintroducing them alongside the hovers, I remembered, as well as the Youth League recreating the Chocobo Knights division. The Calm Lands was home to lots of them as well because of Clasko breeding them. Actually, now that I think about it, chocobo racing had started to become more popular in recent years in the Calm Lands because of it. The strangest part of watching them in the fields was seeing such a familiar sight in an alien world. I could only wonder at how this place differed from Spira, or if there was much difference at all.

Once we felt prepared we headed out to the swamps. The place was as dark and dingy as I expected it to be. The air wasn't nearly half as thick as I thought it would be; it was actually quite clear. I don't why I thought it would be a thick air I suppose that was just what I thought of when I thought of swampy areas.

We took Bill's advice and stayed on the path, keeping as quiet as possible. Even if we did encounter a Zolom I was hoping between the lot of us we could take it on, or weaken it enough to escape. I really didn't know how strong these monsters would be in comparison to the fiends in Spira but there was plenty of time to find out.

* * *

The swamp itself was cold and wet. There were some shallower parts frozen over and the air was heavy and sharp. It was quiet, oddly quiet, but it made us be on guard even more. Cloud and I took the front, Barret and Tifa at the back with everyone else in between us. I knew it was too easy for us to get through here without anything spotting us. If the Midgar Zoloms really are being aggressive then they'll notice people coming into their territory.

Cloud stopped on the path suddenly and I halted alongside him, noticing he had a hand hovering over his sword. He was eyeing something, or rather trying to find something. I started scanning around the group, already on edge and already expecting the worst.

It continued being quiet but the air shifted.

"Get down!" Tifa yelled as, from the back, a large snake shot out from the waters and leapt at the group. Barret fired a round into it and it flopped to the ground. We watched around us and saw a few more, maybe about three or four, in the distance.

"Just go. Now!" Cloud ordered and had us all start running through the swamp. I was hoping the plan was to get the mines before they could catch us but the Zoloms were fast.

Cloud fired a lightning spell at one of the closer ones to make it back off. Every so often whoever had a magic materia would take turns in shooting off a spell to a Zolom that got too close. On the plus side at least there was only a few that were coming after us but that's always something that's spoken too soon.

And there it was, a Zolom much larger than the rest of them, towering over us as it reared up. I think it could have killed someone in one bite but it was doing something different. The smaller Zoloms were blocking our way back but we all stood firm, ready to fight them. The large Zolom was opening its mouth, a flicker of fire growing rapidly to be bigger than our group combined. We could already feel the flames as they caught leaves and the heat blew in our faces.

We didn't have much space to move but we tried to spread out as the Zolom targeted the blast at us. I was expecting to be set on fire and have horrific flashbacks of five years ago but... something different happened.

The flames started to condense and shrink as they were absorbed into my pocket. I had put my hands up to my face to shield myself, out of instinct, when I felt a heat up my side and go into my left arm, my entire firearm ignited in fire. Honestly, I freaked out a little. Fire had never sat well with me and here I was, arm blazing but... not hurting me.

"Fire it back!" I heard Angel yell. I looked at the large Zolom, then felt Angel's hand grab my arm, jutting it towards the snake and the fire leaving my arm and hand, a missile of flames directed right at its face. The blast seared the tops of the trees but the Zolom itself reared back and hissed in pain, the other Zoloms already retreating. The largest one left not too far behind them and we were left, standing fairly dumbfounded at what just happened. I rubbed my arm, no sign of fire or anything of it. Admittedly I could feel my fingers tingling, my arm felt like jelly, and the colour was probably drained from my face.

"Christie," Nanaki said and broke the silence. "Was that the materia you took from Hojo's experiment?"

"I... don't know?" I replied uncertainly. I checked the pouch I kept my materia in and pulled out the yellow one I had taken from the labs. I could sense something inside it. I felt like I was staring into its soul as I focused and attempted to listen to it.

I could see vague, blurred pictures. Fleeting, gone in a blink, but I could understand them in small pieces. I recognised the Hojo's experiment in some pieces, using a missile attack and the lasers. Then people, very faint silhouettes using the same techniques. I could... make out words, names of the abilities... people who could use enemy skills against them. Matra Magic... Laser... the vision of the Zolom attacking us appeared, the fire that crept from the materia and into my hand. Returning the attack to the Zolom. Then blurry parts of others using the same ability... Beta.

I remembered the skills the Ronso could use. The ability of Lancet that healed them, but sometimes also gave them knowledge of a fiends skills that they could use themselves. I think, maybe... didn't the Gullwings have a sphere formed from a Ronso's memories? I'm sure they created a Dressphere from that... I think.

"It... it was the materia," I said, placing it back in my pocket. "And that... was incredibly lucky." I doubted I would use Beta in the future, unless I really had to. Fire and I... not the best combination. "But we should move before they come back."

"Looks like we're nearly out the swamp anyway," Cloud noted and went ahead. I was still a little shaken but kept it to myself, following Cloud with the others alongside me.

But when hit the outskirts of the swamp we were met with one of the more horrific sights I had seen since arriving in Gaia: a Zolom, one that was far bigger than even the huge one that attacked us before, reared up and it's head impaled through a dead tree, blood pouring down the bark and pooling at the bottom. We all approached the creature slowly, eyes up and staring at it in awe.

"Did Sephiroth do this?" Aerith asked quietly. Really it was the only logical answer to how it got like this. It hadn't been dead for long, that was for sure.

We slowly walked around the Zolom, eyes still on it out of a morbid fascination of Sephiroth's work. The execution looked clean, effortless, as though the Zolom had been nothing more than a nuisance in his way. This was our enemy and this First Class Soldier deal was nothing to scoff at. I wasn't sure if I was confident or worried about fighting him at this point in time. I just had to be prepared for whatever came.


	14. Towards Junon

Towards Junon

The trip through the mines had been quiet and uneventful, up to a point. We followed paths and signs heading out the Junon side of the mines, the entireity of which had basically been abandoned because of the Zoloms. I had thought maybe there would be some works going on from the miners at the Junon side but maybe they just weren't prepared to take the risk... or everything was just as bad on the other side.

Heading through one of the tunnels, dark since the lamps had either been put out or died after the last of the miners left, we could see some light in the distance. It was enough to give us pause. Cloud moved a little ahead to get a better vantage. We stayed put and waited until he shuffled back down and glanced at us.

"There's someone there," he said, falling silent. We could hear a few muffled voices, obvious that they hadn't heard us yet. We couldn't make out what they were saying, or how many were there. They, like us, were probably not meant to be there. Probably the paranoia setting in, I assumed it was the Shinra.

"What's the plan?" Tifa asked in a hushed whisper.

"I'll go up. If things get complicated get out. There might be another exit through the mines. If not, cross the mountains," Cloud said. I didn't want him to go alone and I doubted anyone else did either. He looked at us all with a quiet gaze. "What?"

"We've got numbers and space against them this time," Tifa noted. It was true, and I was kind of hoping they wouldn't have tear gas with them this time around. Cloud glanced at the group and gave a nod.

"I'll take a small group in case things get complicated," he looked at Tifa, myself, and Nanaki and took us up the path.

We moved slowly, hoping they wouldn't hear us so we could take them off guard. We were all thinking in the worst case scenario here, for all we know it could have been just some kids of something playing about, or some workers trying to maintain the mines. Even so, considering our status and relationship with the Shinra, we had to assume the worst. Just like it was with Yevon. This feels like a recurring theme in my life.

It wasn't surprising to us when we came face to face with a man in a Turk uniform. The man was bald and wore sunglasses which, considering we were in a cave, didn't make all that much sense to me. I remembered him being the one that I fought inside the lift. I'm certain his name was Rude. I thought I was right anyway. At first glance he appeared to be alone but, upon glancing around our surroundings, there was a younger blonde woman on a higher platform.

Everyone was quiet and tense. Rude never moved but I felt his eyes scanning us over. I looked at the woman behind him, who was searching us over as well.

"Get out our way," I broke the silence.

"I'm afraid that's not possible," Rude replied. "I'm assuming you know why we're here."

"Kidnapping?" Cloud asked from beside me, mouth downturned.

"True, if we're being negative about it... but that's not everything the Turks are," Rude paused, then cleared his throat. "Pardon. Elena, if you would."

"Sir," the woman clearly had the obedience required for a Turk. "With the crisis at hand, Shinra has a lot of enemies. Our orders are to stop you from interfering any further with Shinra's plans."

I glanced between the two of them. I knew I could take Rude on fairly easily. In fact even with the four of us we could get them out the way. If the rest arrived they'd be in for a shock. Unless they had tear gas and tranquillizers.

"That won't be necessary," from behind them arrived Tseng. He was calm and poised, and Elena seemed a little startled when he arrived. "I will deal with them. Both of you have received new orders." They both nodded curtly to him. "Now go. Don't forget to file your reports." Before Rude left, he looked at us again.

"... Reno said he wanted to see you again after his injuries had healed," he said, his head slightly turning to me specifically. "He wants to show his affection for you all... with a new weapon."

"Looking forward to it," I couldn't help myself. Rude and Elena left and we were alone with Tseng. He glanced around our group, his mouth going into an even deeper frown.

"I see Aerith isn't with you," he noted. "A shame."

"I'm here," Aerith arrived up the path to our group. I looked at her as she stood between myself and Cloud, completely undaunted by the Turk.

"Long time no see, Aerith," Tseng nodded. "Looks like you and your friend are safe from the Shinra for a while... at least now that Sephiroth's reappeared."

"So what? I should be grateful to Sephiroth?" Aerith retorted.

"No, that's not what I'm saying," Tseng shook his head. "It was good seeing you again. I won't be seeing much of you, so take care."

"Strange, hearing that from you," Aerith scoffed slightly, but her tone wasn't defensive.

"Well then, stay out of Shinra's way," Tseng replied. He turned and left the way he came, which seemed to be the way out to the Junon side of the mines. We waited a while before going down that path so we wouldn't cross them again. Even if we did we could have taken them. It was three against eight, it would have been an easy fight.

* * *

Coming out of the mines we were greeted with empty roads and open fields. Further along the roads were forests, some paths diverging into it. The main road that the miners would have used was open and clear, but we weren't sure how exposed we'd be to Shinra forces. The safer route, the route through the forest, was decided upon and we headed through.

It did seem that Tseng was right; now that Sephiroth had reappeared Shinra's focus was on him and we were just behind on their trail to Junon. I wondered what the place was like. Was it a large city? Small? Anything at all like Midgar or more leaning towards Kalm? How many people were there? Did they have a trade they were known for? How much of Shinra's influence would be there if Sephiroth was around? Would we even find Sephiroth there? It was like seeing Spira all over again; excited to see the next destination and trying to savour as much of it as I could in the fleeting visits and chaotic moments. Maybe once it was all over I'd get to see the world properly, take in everything it had to offer. Just like I did with Spira.

The rest of our travel was fairly uneventful and we found a clearing to set up camp. We started to set ourselves down and arrange the watches and rotations for them while Tifa got on with making something to eat. As I was setting up one of the tents I swore I heard something from the trees. Like a rustling or something moving. It was quick, but I could tell it wasn't an animal or fiend. I recognised the rustling as a person.

"Christie? Is something wrong?" Aerith asked when she noticed me stop pitching tents and staring intently at the area I heard the bushes move. Keeping my eyes on it, I signalled her to stay behind.

"Yeah... wait here," I said and made my way slowly to the plants. I knew the person wouldn't be there, probably attempting a trap or trying to stay out of sight, so I kept an eye out around my peripherals, trying to see if anything was going to come out from the side of me.

I heard the rustling again to the left of me and turned, trying to see who was there. They were fast, whoever they were. I remained still, eyes glancing around for any sign of movement. I could feel the rest of the group start to get on their guard now.

There was a yelp from someone and I spun around, seeing a large, four-pointed weapon land in the ground. A person with short hair darted from the trees and ran towards the weapon. As they were doing so Cloud ran for them, sword drawn, and intercepted them, blade coming down between them and their weapon. They quickly reacted, darting around Cloud and shooting him with a lightning bolt. Nanaki pounced on them, pinning them down. They struggled and kicked but Nanaki put all is weight onto them to ensure they couldn't get up. I noticed the magic materia in their hand and looked over at Cloud, seeing that he was missing one. That was... actually incredibly skilled on their part.

"Let me go! I'll take you all on!" The person's voice was young and female and she continued to struggle against Nanaki. We approached her, watching to make sure she didn't try anything. Not that she really could.

"You're... well, you're really outnumbered," Aerith noted, finger on her chin.

"We'll let you up so long as you don't try anything," Tifa said, looking over to Cloud for confirmation, as did Nanaki. Cloud gave a nod but kept his sword out. The girl jumped up, looking around the group and seeing that we were all pretty much prepared for any sudden movements.

"You want to explain why you tried to get the jump on us?" Barrett asked.

"Nope, I don't want to," the girl responded, crossing her arms indignantly. "It's none of your business anyway."

"Did the Turks send you to spy on us?" Cloud asked. Well that was the most logical conclusion. Either that or she was trying her luck. Regardless, the girl scoffed at the sheer suggestion of being a Turk.

"Spying for Shinra? As if!" She told him. "I'd die before teaming up with them. Anyways for all I know _you_ guys could be the Shinra."

"No... quite the opposite," Nanaki said. "We're fighting against them."

"Uh-huh, uh-huh, sure," the girl said, not buying it.

"It's true. We're Avalanche," Tifa said.

"Avalanche, huh? So you guys are the eco-warriors taking out Reactors?" She still didn't seem convinced. "Then what's the deal with squatting in the woods?"

"Considering you don't believe anything we're saying, I don't think you'll take our reasons seriously," I added in. "Then again, we could ask you why you're squatting in the woods and following us."

"Well I wouldn't be dumb enough to tell a bunch of strangers what I'm doing," she responded. I laughed a little, getting some odd looks. Honestly, the girl reminded me of Rikku a little with her attitude.

"Well you've got a point there," I said. "Look, everyone here has issues with Shinra, I think most of the world does really. You've probably seen them head towards Junon, just ahead of us right?" She was silent, eyeing me up and down. She hummed a little.

"... Might've."

"Well, something that's there has got their interests," I continued. "We're trying to get to it before they do. I noticed you take my friend's materia. We could use your help."

"Hey, I know I'm good, but don't think flattery's going to work," she replied.

"Have you heard that the enemy of your enemy is your friend?" I asked. "We both want to stop Shinra and, if we work together, we could do that." The girl hummed again, looking around the group, then back to me.

"Well..." she trailed off for the suspense. "I mean, I know I'm good, so of course you guys would want my skills!" I smiled and nodded.

"Great, welcome to the team," I said. "Once we finish setting up camp, we'll get with introductions."

* * *

Reason for long break: Was in a writing slump, sorry for major delay between chapters.


	15. Nevina: A Meeting Over Coffee

A Meeting Over Coffee

Things were starting to get busy in work now, what with the Winter Festival getting underway. People were booking in for long stays to visit family, some as a passover to Midgar or Junon, but it was busy all the same. It kept us going; busier it was the faster the shifts went in. I was kind of glad I had tomorrow off so I could get my own plans arranged with my parents. Sure they lived like twenty minutes away but I should start making arrangements for the Festival and New Year.

I yawned, feeling exhausted after another night shift but I think I was the only one right now willing to do them. I suppose it just kind of suited for the moment but I didn't want to have to do it all the time. Just that time of year again.

I said goodbye to Elise as I passed reception. She was running late so I hung back until she got here and let herself get organised. I could feel that she was still flustered from being late so I gave her a reassuring smile before I left. She'd get back into the swing of it quick enough.

Kalm was pretty cold but there was no sign of snow, as much as everyone had hoped. It'd been a couple of years since I'd actually seen snow at this time of the year but a small part of me always hoped that some would appear. The streets were pretty quiet this time of the morning but it would get busy soon enough. I didn't have many plan beyond going home and sorting the next couple of weeks out for myself. I hoped to keep my options open though; sometimes I worry unexpected things will pop up.

"Finally done your shift, huh?" I turned when I heard the voice, already beaming in a smile. I noticed instantly Reno was out of his work uniform and in something more casual, as well as his left arm being in a sling. I went over and came him a hug.

"Reno! Hi, how you been?" I asked as I released the hug. "What happened to your arm?"

"Work related incident. Another day or something before I'm back on the field," he shrugged. "Had the day off so I figured I'd swing over. It's been a while since we caught up."

"It has actually, now I think about it," I agreed, noting something off under his tone. I knew there wasn't any malicious intent but I knew to keep a check if anything changed. I kept my smile and shifted the strap of my bag on my shoulder. "Still early, how about we grab breakfast?"

"Sounds good."

I was going to just buy something quick anyway so we headed down to a cafe a few blocks from the hotel. It'd be a good place as any to grab some coffee anyway. I looked around the streets, glancing quickly at faces but nothing really felt off apart from some sort of worry from Reno. It was quiet, stuffed into the back of his mind but it had the potential to grow.

Reno offered to buy breakfast while I got us a seat. I got one by the window at the more quiet side. I had noticed all the Turks did it, even off duty. I went over to the counter to help Reno carry the coffee and some breakfast muffins. Sitting down I took mine and held the cup in my hands, letting the heat from it warm them.

"So how're Rude and Tseng?" I asked.

"Got their hands full since this happened," Reno shrugged his left arm. "Eh like I said, not got long before they fix this then I'll be back."

"They couldn't just heal it normally or with materia?"

"Nah it was a pretty bad break; had to realign the bone first before they could do any healing, and it's in stages. This is the last bit of work before I can take this damn thing off."

"I know, and on your dominant side, too," I pouted a little in sympathy before drinking some coffee. "Nothing's been going on my end. Just been working, working, working some more. My life's not nearly as exciting as it should be." Or as it's been. After everything I deserved a break from it all.

"Come on, Nev, we're all allowed our boring spells," Reno's lips curled into a grin as he leant back on his chair. I felt the worry again from the conversation's turn but he had a good poker face, as always. I sipped my coffee, trying to look closer at the smaller details. He touched his ear and leant forward again. "So nothing's happened recently?"

"Reno, this isn't just a check in is it?" I asked. Neither of us liked beating around the bush but I understand why he was trying to make it feel less impersonal. "Has something happened?" Admittedly I was feigning ignorance at this point to gauge his reaction and to see if we were on the same page. He groaned a little, glancing around at the other tables.

"Rather not talk about it openly," he said.

"We'll go to my place then," I offered. We finished our things and I walked him to my apartment. It was a long, silent walk, filled with the occasional benign question to try and catch up and break the awkwardness.

* * *

We both knew my apartment was safe. The area it was in was quiet, the walls were thick and soundproof, the windows were reinforced glass, there was an emergency fire exit with easy access, and I had an electronic keypad on my own door. I pressed in the code and let the both of us in. I was fairly calm about the situation by the time we reached my home. I put my bag on the small table by the door and headed into the kitchen, going for the kettle and filling it with water.

"I'll make coffee. Black with three sweetener, yeah?" I asked, easing off the atmosphere ever so slightly. I went into the cupboard and picked two mugs. "So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Nev, why were you looking at the Nibelheim records?"

I paused at the kettle as I set the mugs down. I sighed, I kept calm. So we _were_ on the same page. I turned to him, smiling softly, remaining nonchalant about the confrontation.

"You know I thought it would be either Tseng or Rude bringing me up for it," I said and went back to making coffee.

"Yeah, well, since this happened I've been behind a desk. And you're lucky I was the first to pick up on it," Reno said and joined me in the kitchen. His tone had changed now that were in the safety of my home. I could hear the concern and a little bit of annoyance there. I was trying to play it down but if he was annoyed then that meant there was more to it. "So how about you tell me why you were looking at the records after five years?"

I finished making the drinks and passed him his. I sighed, knowing I'd have to be honest and upfront with him. I mulled the question over, picking my words carefully.

"Reno, I... my friend died that day. I don't have any answers for it," I said, softening my tone, pulling my shoulders up slightly, eyes looking around the room for a moment. "And rumours have been going about Kalm recently about a man in a black cape and... well, you know I looked through those files too. I just wanted to see if there were any answers were none were five year ago."

"I get it; none of Shinra's data banks have a lot on Nibelheim," Reno agreed, his shoulders relaxing, his tone coming down as well. "But you were risking your neck looking at those files at this time. Tseng and Rude are on the field with the new recruit and, if my arm didn't get fucked, anyone would have noticed you accessing the files. I got you covered; you don't have to worry about Shinra busting down your door."

"Thanks Reno," I nodded. "But you don't have to worry I know what I'm doing."

"You're kidding, right?" Reno scoffed. "Shinra's in the air right now with the President dying and Rufus taking over, sightings of men in black capes, and rumours that Sephiroth's alive. Are you not worried this would be a repeat of what happened before?"

"I know what I'm getting myself into and I'm prepared for the consequences, just as I was before," I said and kept my voice level. The worry radiated off Reno terribly. I couldn't help but frown.

"Look, friend to friend: I don't want to see anything bad happen to you," Reno said, "but there's a huge chance that me and the guys aren't going to be able to protect you any more. Rufus is the President now, not his old man. If, hell when, he gets filled in completely about the situation, your name's going to pop up. That's when the Turks can't do anything to protect you."

"I know that all that you're doing for me is a favour to a friend, and I appreciate that," I said. "But if I wasn't prepared to face the consequences of my actions, then I wouldn't have looked at the files. But I needed to see if anything new had come about since these rumours of men in black capes started." I paused and drink half my coffee quickly. "A lot happened that night that I don't know about, and it's answers no one can give to me straight. I thought I could find closure and that's all that this is about for me. Nothing else." I kept eye contact with him, watching his unconscious responses. His eyes were steady, doing the same. It's a game Turks knew well, as did I. The mild stand off came to an end when he sighed and straightened his posture.

"I know you Nev," he said. "We'll do what we can, like we've always done. Clock's ticking though. They'll find out."

"And that's okay. I'm prepared," I shrugged. "Like I tell you guys every time: I know what I'm doing." I sensed the concern wasn't lifting. This was bigger than anything else we'd encountered previously. Things had shifted too quickly for Shinra and they were reacting as best they could to maintain normality. Any weaknesses could be abused by their enemies. There were no Soldiers, no Sephiroths, to stomp them out this time.

"I know I don't need to tell you this but... just watch your back, okay?" Was the last thing Reno told me before he left my apartment. We still had a good chat and catch up despite the horrid, dark feeling looming over us. It was a familiar feeling, one I didn't like but it was still familiar to me. Things would only get worse from here. Didn't take a genius to work that out.

After about twenty minutes, once I was certain I was alone, I went to my laptop and opened it up. After it booted up I headed into my saved documents, opening up everything I could on Nibelheim. And Soldier. And Avalanche. And I opened my back door into Shinra's files, covering my tracks as much as I could to provide Reno, or whatever Turk caught wind of my actions, minimal effort to clean up. I probably wasn't going to get any answers from five year old reports but I had to try. Something was wrong and I knew that the moment that group entered the Inn. It was Avalanche. Not many people had gun arms or were ex-Soldiers. Although that Soldier... he wasn't a Soldier.. He knew things he wasn't meant to from a position he was never in. He wasn't there. Something wasn't adding up and I had to find out what.


	16. Coast City Junon

Coast City Junon

When I think of coastal cities I think of Luca: wide open space, flocks of gulls overhead in blue skies, ships coming entering and leaving port, lots of people, noise, ocean breeze hitting your face, the smell of sea salt almost everywhere you go...

If Luca was one end of a spectrum, then Junon was the other side: the lower part of the city we entered into was like a smaller scale Midgar slum. It was so run-down, the upper city acted like a huge shadow, darkening the city, the air was thick and choked but was still clearer than the Midgar slums. It was noisy and bust, certainly, but the atmosphere was entirely different from what I was familiar with. I already knew just how different this world was from Spira... I suppose part of me hoped that somewhere wasn't as damaged by Shinra.

It was starting to hit sunset when we arrived, so the orange glow of the sun was hitting the city from the coast. Not that it seemed like much of a beach from a quick glance. This whole part of the city seemed quite small actually; there wasn't even a harbour. That was probably on the other side of the city and we probably had to access it from the upper part of Junon. All that remained was to figure out how to get there.

I wanted to explore this part of the city, and we needed to get an idea of the layout, so we split off to learn about the place more. Well, the others did. I actually headed straight for the beach to see the ocean.

When my boots hit the sand I did feel... I felt sad. The sand was soggy, dark, honestly half of the beach was just rock as well, the smell was awful: a salty smog that caught in the back of my throat. The water was a murky colour to match the sand, huge metal pillars sticking out of it to support the structures above. It was cold from the breeze, an icy chill that was almost cutting. I wrapped my arms around me, feeling the cold through my jacket.

It was just... so different. Different from everything I'd known. Besaid's beaches were so calm and beautiful. You could see the bottom of the ocean the waters were so clear, the sand was so white it almost reflected the sun. Everything was so fresh, full of energy, full of life... it was so different. People were always on the beaches, playing the water, practising Blitzball, fishing... there was always people. Always. There was no one here. There was no noise, no people, nothing. It was awful to see. I didn't realise just how much I'd be affected by this...

I know I was a world away from Spira. This planet was... the more I saw of it the more amazed and astounded and horrified I became. Progress changed landscapes but... there was no need for this.

"Ha!" The girl from the woods, Yuffie, near enough jumped onto my back after sneaking up on me. After we had settled down in the camp she appeared more open with us but I couldn't blame her for still acting a little guarded when we asked about her motives. When she jumped on me I gasped a little before smiling at her in greeting. "Caught you slacking."

"Yeah, guess I am," I gave a half-laugh and went back to staring at the ocean. Yuffie stood with me, stretching her arms. "I've never been to Junon before. Just wanted to see this."

"Yup. Gotta be proud of the Shinra, right?" Yuffie responded. She turned her head to me. "Where you from, anyway? I never seen you in Wutai." There it was again. I suppose there were some physical traits we both shared.

"I'm not from Wutai," I shrugged. "I'm... not from there anyway."

"Oh, so you're one of those 'dark and mysterious past' types?" Yuffie teased and jabbed my side with her elbow.

"Believe me I wish it was simpler."

"Well it's simpler if you just, you know... tell people?" She leaned over, a cheeky smile on her face. I laughed and shook my head.

"Well you can tell us what your plan for fighting Shinra is," I countered half-playfully. She was keeping her reasons to herself, mostly, all that we knew is that she was fighting against Shinra. Of course we hadn't known each for long but I was already acting weary around Angel, I really didn't want to be keeping an eye on another person. Still Yuffie was only a teenager, and seemed rather cautious of us as well. I did my best to talk to her and befriend her in the short space of time we'd known one another, since I pretty much brought her into the team anyway. Still she reminded me so much of Rikku.

We heard a scream from further out in the water and I squinted, seeing the water splash around frantically. The scream sounded young and panicked and I immediately knew it was a child. My head snapped to Yuffie and she looked just as shocked.

"Get help," I ordered and proceeded to sprint across the length of the beach and into the water.

The water itself got incredibly deep suddenly and I was swimming as fast as I could to reach the child. It was a young girl and she was losing consciousness quickly. I had already noticed something lurking under the water, circling us. I grabbed the girl quickly and backed out to shallow waters, the creature coming after us. It was some huge fish-like beast that rose out of the sea and screeched as we hit the shallows. I dragged the girl to the beach and gained enough distance to keep her safe but she had already passed out. I turned my attention to the beast that had forced itself to the shore to attack.

I took a breath and focused on my materia. It glowed in my pocket and the magic travelled up my body and into my left hand. I fired the Matra Magic at the beast, directly hitting its face. It reeled back and gave me enough time to go and throw a couple of punches into it. It was pretty slow in the shallows so I could get around it as it flailed around, shifting its weight to hit me. It managed to throw itself into me, knocking me back and I quickly fired another load of Matra Magic at it. That seemed to knock it back, so I shouldered it back, throwing some of my life force into for a bit more kick.

A bolt of lightning shot out from behind me, hitting the creature, and a round of bullets were fired into it. Afterwards a large shuriken stuck itself into it before Yuffie darted past me and yanked it out, flipping back and backing off. Cloud ran in and struck it with his sword while Barret kept his distance and fired his gun arm. Between the four of us we made short work of the creature as it was already the the disadvantage of being out the water.

Once we had taken care of it, I circled it to make sure it was definitely dead. That was when we heard someone yelling. It was panicked, older man. We turned to see him rush towards the unconscious girl. I was already making my way towards them.

"Priscilla!" He cried, dropping to his knees and propping the girl up in his arms. He leaned over her, ear over her heart. He then hovered his hand over her mouth for a few moments. "She's... she's not breathing! She's not breathing"

"Calm down," I knelt beside them and stared the man in the eyes. I tried to be reassuring and calm and it seemed to work. The man still looked fearful for the girl's life but nowhere near hysterical. "Let me see her." He nodded slowly and carefully passed me the girl. I held her and moved my fingers to under her nose. No breath. I checked her pulse on her jugular vein. I couldn't feel anything.

I rolled her head to the side and watched her nose and mouth for any water coming out. Once I was certain it had drained I placed her flat on her back and started to perform chest compressions. I practised this far more than I had actually performed it on people; Blitzaball training required that you knew how to resuscitate someone in cases like these. Honestly it was more common during training and when players were practising to hold their breath than it ever was during a game. In cases like that the offending team risked disqualification. It was why training always had to be supervision. I spotted Yuna a couple of times when she started to learn, before I started to travel Spira again, before she ran off to join the Gullwings.

I continued the compressions and opened her airways, breaking to give her breaths of air and then continuing. I checked for her breaths and doubled checked her pulse until, thankfully, she cough harshly but remained unconscious. I waiting a moment, feeling shallow breaths. I looked over to the man, his still still coloured with worry.

"She's breathing. Where does she live?" I asked. The man nearly collapsed in relief.

"Oh thank you! Thank you!" He said. "Please, bring her this way! We don't live too far from the beach."

I lifted the girl up and started to carry her off the beach. We arrived at a little house that felt not too far from the shores, small and already crowded feeling. The man directed me to her bed and I laid her down, making sure she was wrapped up warm.

"Check her regularly," I rhymed off. "When she's awake, make sure she's drinking water and make sure she gets plenty of rest. Don't let her jump out of bed or anything she might get dizzy or sick."

"Of course, thank you again. Thank you so much for saving my granddaughter," the man nodded, grabbing hold of my hands and shaking them.

"I did what anyone would have done," I said.

"You still saved Priscilla. If there's anything we can do to repay you-"

"You don't have to do that," I insisted. Then a thought hit me. "The only thing I'd like to know is if there's a place my friends and myself can stay the night?"

It actually surprised me just how close the community was here. It didn't take long for everyone to find out about what had happened on the beach and start asking questions about Priscilla's well being and wanting to know why our group was in town. We were offered a few rooms at the inn that we gladly took as it gave us a place to settle for the night.


	17. Under Shinra's Nose

Under Shinra's Nose

I woke up fairly early the next morning, still managing to get a decent sleep. I had wanted to ask the people in town about any rumours of a man in a black cloak but we were so tired last night we never got the chance. Maybe now that things had calmed down it would be possible.

It was still quiet and everyone was still asleep so I decided to head back down to the beach for a few minutes to myself. It wasn't the kind of beach I was used to by any stretch of the means... but it was still a beach and watching the sea cleared my head. Not that I'd swim in it though.

From the look of the oceans beyond the town it was early morning and this part of Junon would get to see the sun as it was setting. At least it wasn't as bad as Midgar, I suppose; here you got a chance to see the sun if only for a few moments.

I was trying to think of what we should do next. We could ask about here for information on Sephiroth but we needed to get to the upper city. That was my thought anyway. The more people we asked the more information we could get. I had the feeling knocking in the back of my head that we'd have to cross the ocean. Call it traveller's intuition, I suppose. Honestly it was probably better to talk to the group about it, especially Cloud. He was the leader after all.

I was genuinely a little surprised when I saw Angel sitting on the wall at the top of the stairs leading to the beach as I was coming back to town. She side glanced me and I said nothing as I started to walk past her.

"Morning, hero," she said flatly. I stopped walking away and turned to her, standing at the wall beside her as she sat.

"That supposed to be an insult?" I said rather defensively.

"If you want it to be," she shrugged. "Never seen it as a healthy choice, personally."

"Saving people? Yeah that's not your style, is it?" I countered. Angel scoffed in return. "I don't need to justify my actions to you, Angel."

"I don't care. I just don't playing hero is the best thing to do," she said. "And before you ask: no. It's not about that little girl specifically." She paused and bit her lip, thinking about going on. She then turned her face to meet mine. "I don't talk or involve myself but I watch: you've been doing this your whole life and what good's it done?"

"Spira's safe from Sin and Vegnagun," I answered. "It's been safe for years."

"And you're restless to find something to save again," she said. "You've nearly died for the hero's cause... no you _have_ died, actually, for the hero's cause." I remember Bikanel and trying to stop the Guado from taking Yuna. "Your friends died too, briefly, and some of them have died. Being a hero gets people killed."

"So don't do the right thing?"

"You don't get it: I'm trying to warn you, you idiot," Angel groaned. We locked eyes for a few moments before she sighed. "I can see why Oblivion liked you the best. You're just like him. Always trying to play hero and save everyone. Look where that got him: his wife's dead, his family's gone, and his only living relative..." she trailed off and her eyes drifted to the side. She was quiet. "... His only living relative doesn't know where we stand."

"Oblivion never stopped loving you," I said. "He wants to protect you from the Superiors."

"And look where that's got him... but what do you know?" Angie looked away back to the sea. "He just dragged you in."

"I know a lot more than you think, Angel," I returned. I honestly didn't have time or patience for her shitting on what I believed in so I left to find the others.

That was when the music started to pipe up. Quiet at first, then it became louder and louder. It was cheery, upbeat, coming from above us. I spotted Aerith, Barrett, and Nanaki grouped together and talking so I approached them, hoping maybe they knew about the music.

"You guys wake up from that?" I asked.

"Kind of. I thought I was hearing things at first," Aerith smiled. The music faded out and then started up again. It sure was loud. "I'm guessing they're practising?"

"For a celebration?" I guessed alongside her. I thought about my words to avoid sounding like an idiot. "Am I forgetting a holiday or event that's happening today?"

"As far as I'm aware there's no major events happening," Nanaki said.

"Hell if I know," Barrett shrugged. He looked over my shoulder and I turned, seeing Cloud and Tifa. "You guys know what's going on?"

"No idea," Cloud said and Tifa nodded in agreement with him. "We should ask around."

"I'm actually going to see if that girl's okay," I informed them and headed off to her home. It wasn't actually too far away and I spotted her on the decking of her house. We made eye contact and I waved to her on approach. "Hey. Priscilla, right?"

"Yeah..." she nodded and spoke quietly, looking at my face but more specifically my scars. "My grandparents told me about you. Um... thanks for saving me."

"Don't worry about it. As long as you're okay that's the important thing," I smiled. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay, but... actually do you have any idea what the music's for?"

"You don't know?" She tilted her head to the side questioningly. "Shinra's having this huge celebration for the new President. Not that he'd come through here. It's all the fancy stuff up top while we get nothing."

"I should have known," I sighed. If I'd learned anything from travelling and being a pariah back on the Pilgrimage, it's that your pursuers are always on top of you. We'd need a plan. "Thanks anyway, you take care."

* * *

I rushed back to the group and we waited for everyone to arrive back to discuss what we knew. The other residents had pretty much said the same as Priscilla, so the upper city would be heavily guarded. What we also learned was that Rufus was planning to cross the ocean, by way of boat, in pursuit of Sephiroth. So now we had to figure out how to cross the ocean as well. Well we had to figure out how to get to the upper city first.

"The elevators will be guarded and they'll be on the lookout for us and anyone suspicious," Tifa noted in thought.

"So let's just charge in and taken them on," Yuffie suggested.

"I'd rather they not know we're here," Aerith added.

"Well we don't have a lot of options and I'm not sitting on my butt waiting for them to get a head start," Yuffie returned. I looked to Cloud for a solution, hoping he'd think of something. He did seem to have an idea so I waited for him to divulge.

"There were support towers on the beach," he noted. "Not sure where they'd lead us but they've got to take us to the upper parts."

"So climb up that way?" Barrett finished. Cloud gave a nod.

"No! You can't go that way!" We all turned to Priscilla. I'm not sure how long she'd been there for. "Electric currents run through those towers, so it's really dangerous..." everyone kind of looked defeated at that. "Um, are you guys fighting the Shinra?"

"Yeah," Cloud nodded.

"Um, I might be able to help," Priscilla reached into her pocket and pulled out a whistle. "I was in the ocean training Mr. Dolphin when that monster attacked. He could help you get to the top of the tower safely."

"How?" Cloud asked.

"Mr. Dolphin jumps when I blow the whistle, and there's a pole at the top of the tower that's safe enough to walk on and you can reach the city from there."

"Have you done this before?" Cloud asked and made Priscilla look down bashfully.

"Um... maybe?" Was her answer.

"So we can climb to the upper city that way," I mused.

"Well, Cloud, looks like this is on you," Barrett said. "You figure a way up and we'll follow you."

"Uh, what?" Cloud sort of blankly looked at Barrett in surprise.

"Someone should go with him, considering his track record for falling off high things," I half joked, gaining a look from him.

"Well I'm sure you'll catch him if anything happens," Aerith smiled. I gave her a look, then glanced at Tifa who was quietly giggling. Thanks guys. "Stay safe, you two!"

"Fine. We'll try get access to the elevator while the parade's on. Security should be a bit lax then," Cloud decided and I followed him and Priscilla to the beach. I looked the tower up and down, watching some currents spark through it. Reminded me of the towers in the Thunder Plains.

"Well it doesn't look too dangerous," I mused quietly. Cloud turned his head to look at me.

"What?" The way he was looking at me you'd think I'd grown a second head.

"Well nothing's too dangerous as long as you're careful," I said and started pointing up to the tower. "I'm not an expert but there are points where the current is at its strongest. We'll only be able to jump so high and we'll have to climb the rest."

"I see," Cloud nodded. "I'll go first. You follow my lead."

I nodded in agreement and we both swam out to the tower. I won't lie I didn't feel totally comfortable with a dolphin propelling me upwards who knows how far, I feel like there was a whole lesson about this we were sorely missing. Could it hold our weight? How far would we go up? Would the dolphin even do it for us? If I climbed the tower it would take longer, I'd probably get hit with currents, but I knew I could get to the top just by climbing. I was weighing up a safe uncertainty against a dangerous certainty and... Cloud said he would go first.

I put my conflict aside and watched as Priscilla blew the whistle, the dolphin diving underneath the water, darting beneath Cloud and, in one swift motion, propelled him into the air. He did actually go pretty high and he had, through some fluke I guessed, caught onto a piece of the tower's structure. He pulled himself up and started climbing further up to the city. Guess it was my turn then.

I braced myself and heard the whistle. It was a strange feeling being shot up into the air the way we had been but I had no time to think about it as I had to focus on grabbing a part of the tower so I could climb.

Again, it felt like some fluke that I managed to grab onto the tower and pull myself up. I followed Cloud's path to the top and we reached a ladder that maintenance would have used for tower checks and repairs. Getting to the top of the ladder I could help but be taken aback by the huge, gorgeous construct before us. It was stunning, not as colourful as some of the ones we had back in Spira but even still it was a beautiful build of an airship. I must have grinned from ear to ear looking at it. I would be amazing to be on an airship again.

"That must be how Rufus is crossing the ocean," Cloud said.

"He's got style, I'll give him that," I nodded. "Right. I'll gawk later. Let's find the elevator leading to the lower city."

We took an elevator down into the building nearby the dock, hearing some noise coming from inside. Cloud made me wait outside while he went in. I heard some more noise and yelling but no fighting. It fell quiet for a few minutes and I poked my head in. I quickly ducked back out when three soldiers and a commander came out one room. Then I was about to punch a soldier that came through the door.

"It's me!" Cloud hissed quickly.

"Shit... actually wait that's a good idea," I replied looking at the soldier grunt uniform. "Where'd you get it?"

"In the locker room there. Look there's no time they think I'm in the army and I have to get to the parade. Get the others up here while it's going on, okay?" Cloud didn't even give me time to reply before he rushed through the door, some more yelling happened, then it was silent. I waited another couple of moments before pushing the door open, seeing a locker room door left wide open. Thanks Cloud.

I darted in quickly and checked for spare uniforms. Just my luck there were a good number of them, fresh and clean, probably to take precautions at the amount of soldiers here so one wouldn't be left without. That wouldn't do for Shinra. I put it on, hiding my own clothes I the corner of the room, and darted out quickly. I looked around the hall, seeing exit signs to various locations. The one that did interest me, however, was labelled "Lower Junon Elevator". Perfect.

I went in that direct, taking a deep breath and holding myself high because I knew someone would be there. Thankfully it was one lone soldier. I approached him quickly and with purpose.

"I'm here to relieve you of your post. You're required at the parade," I said deeply and evenly. He looked at me and I couldn't gauge his expression beneath his helmet.

"Really? Who says?" Fuck. I don't know. "Eh, screw it, beats hanging around here while everyone else gets the good jobs," he started to walk away then turned around again. "Also, you see any of the President's guard coming this way, I was ordered to redirect them to the port. The airship isn't ready to fly."

"Of course," I nodded and saluted, waiting for him to go away. Not ready to fly yet? So much for me getting on that airship. Still it's better than going to the wrong place and Shinra getting ahead of us.

Once he was gone I opened the doors to the elevator and headed inside, going on the long ride down to the lower city. I could hear the music starting up again and was hoping we had enough time to pull this off.

* * *

Reaching the lower city I did get a couple puzzled looks and some angry ones as I rushed to find the others. Sure enough the were at the inn and were all on high alert when I burst through the door.

"Guys, don't, it's me!" I announced, hands in the air to surrender. I took off the helmet when everyone relaxed a little. "We don't have a lot of time; follow me and I'll explain on the way." I literally didn't waste a moment in rushing back to the elevator, worried something would throw a spanner into the works. Thankfully the elevator wasn't too far away and everyone had managed to grab their stuff and follow. I doubled checked everyone was there and hit the button for up. I took a breath in to ease myself. "Okay. So we're going to disguise ourselves as Shinra soldiers to get through the city unnoticed. The initial plan was to take the airship across the sea but it's not ready yet, so Rufus Shinra is going to have to go by boat."

"Where's Cloud?" Tifa asked.

"He's already impersonating a soldier," I said, putting my helmet back on. "We're going to have to be quick, so follow me once this thing stops."

Again, no time wasted getting into the locker room and changing. I grabbed my clothes from their hiding stop and shoved them in our bags, as did everyone else. Everyone bar Barrett and Nanaki. Barrett's build just didn't fit the standard Shinra uniform and Nanaki, well, he wasn't bipedal. We'd have to get them on the ship somehow... but how?

"So do we wait here for Cloud?" Aerith asked.

"Actually we're better waiting outside on the docks. Easier to hide or blend in," I suggested, walking out to the dock with everyone in tow. I looked up at the airship, kind of disappointed that we weren't going to fly in it right now. It would have made things so much quicker, and we could have tried to commandeer it for ourselves.

"It's amazing," Aerith said almost breathlessly. "I can't believe we're not going on it."

"Yeah, it sucks," I agreed. "Have a feeling we'll be on it eventually."

"What gives you that idea?" Aerith asked.

"Call it a hunch," I shrugged. I did have a good feeling that we would get to be on that airship at some point. "But, promise Aerith, we'll be on that airship."

"Have you been on one before?"

"Yeah. Honestly the feeling is... it makes you feel so alive," I tried to explain, albeit poorly. "Especially when you're outside, you feel the wind on your face, you can watch the ground speed on underneath you, you're so close to the sky... you really have to experience it for yourself I can't justify the experience."

"Sounds awful..." Yuffie groaned. We heard a voice and we were on alert as, very suddenly, a man in a white coat almost barged through the door, two slightly younger looking people, man and woman similarly dressed, followed suit.

"This is utterly ridiculous. Trust Shrina to change plans at the last possible minute," the lead man groaned, his face looking a little sour. "Honestly I don't know why I expected anything better from them."

"Sir, shouldn't we be heading to the boat now?" The man asked, causing his superior to spin around seamlessly from his stride and halt the two in place.

"My equipment is already on that airship. If the crew want to healthy and avoid cleaning vomit for the trip, I need my equipment," he said deliberately slowly. He then caught sight of us and, still frowning, straightened himself. "I take it you're all here to help transfer my supplies?"

"We are, sir," I answered quickly.

"Wonderful. The two of you can go to the ship and assemble the medical bay," the man ordered. "Will two of you escort them? If Shinra sees them without an escort I'm sure he'll be distraught."

"Of course, sir," I nodded and looked to Barrett and Nanaki, urging them to go. Tifa went with them to deter suspicion.

"Are you... Shinra?" The woman asked.

"I work in the engine room," Barrett answered very convincingly.

"And the... dog?"

"... He catches rats."

"Now if the rest of you will follow me," we split off, the rest of us following this really irate doctor. Least he seemed to be medical rather than whatever category Hojo filed himself under. He lead us through the airship to the medical bay, a number of boxes sitting neatly on a desk. The man picked up a larger bag and ordered us to carry the boxes, instructing us to be careful as the equipment and supplies were delicate. It was a quick in and out, kind of disappointing, but at least this meant we'd be on the ship.

"Um, can I ask something?" I heard Yuffie say, walking to the man's side as he took the lead to the ship. She was trying to sound as masculine as she could.

"Yes?" He sounded a little calmer though he probably was a hair away from becoming pissed again.

"Is there anything for motion sickness in these supplies?" I noticed the man's face soften slightly, mostly in his eyes. He pushed his glasses up on his face.

"Once we arrive on the ship and I've gotten organised I should have something," he told her.

While we travelled to the boat I became increasingly worried that Cloud wouldn't be there and none of us could exactly give him a quick phone call to notify him. I was hoping there would be time between getting to the boat and it leaving for Cloud to get there but I had no idea how much of a risk exposure would be. I hoped to get a better idea once we arrived on the ship. Once we were all accounted for it was a case of staying out of Shinra's sight until we reached the other side.


	18. Crossing The Ocean

Crossing the Ocean

It looked like luck had been on our side. When we arrived on the boat Cloud contacted me and I managed to fill him in on the situation as the others were moving things in the medical bay. He had an idea of how to get to the boat and all we had to do was wait. Sure enough there was a huge military send off for the President and, once it had become quiet enough, Cloud hastily made his way onto the ship. It also took him a while to locate all of us without giving himself away to the other grunts or sailors on board. Speaking of; Nanaki first kept himself to the engine room but, more recently, I found him in a Shinra uniform, utterly concealed but walking terribly poorly. It got to the point others on board were insisting he go to the medical bay. Barret, on the other hand, was in full sailor uniform but didn't look like he was enjoying it. As long as no one caught on about our identities.

We had been on the boat for five days now, thankfully keeping on the low the whole time. It was strange trying to stay undercover the whole time but it seemed to be working. We just kept our heads down, kept quiet, and we got on with it. It wasn't as though we had to be on guard for any threats or anything but we had arranged from precautions just in case anything happened.

One thing that had been making me nervous was the fact that two Turks were on board to guard the President in case things went sour. There were still rumours that the cloaked man had been in Junon and killed a number of soldiers, another few suggesting he had crossed the ocean. Either way the President needed protection and the Turks were that, apparently. Aerith and I were both nervous, knowing that the tiniest slip could mean that we were fucked. They seemed to keep to the President's side, much to our relief, and we were glad they hadn't cottoned on yet.

I was waiting by the medical bay, having started to go there frequently as Yuffie's motion sickness was getting rather bad. Dr. Dawkins, the head doctor on the ship and the man we helped in Junon, was helpful and patient after he stopped being irritable over having to transfer his things from the airship to a regular ship. He made sure Yuffie was at most ease and her stomach was settled, insisting that she came by every morning for a check in and I, worried for Yuffie and in case our cover would be blown, went with her as he gave her medicine, along with a daily supply. He did seem rather bugged by her instance of not removing her helmet, but wasn't pushy as he knew she didn't have head injuries. Though he did advise to remove the helmet if she started feeling overheated. He seemed to be none the wiser but I doubt a doctor was supposed to be on the lookout for Avalance or Sephiroth.

Yuffie rushed out hurriedly as I waited outside for her. We started to act like we were patrolling the halls as people were going about their daily business.

"Feeling much better?" I asked.

"Ugh, even with the stuff he's making me take I still feel like I'm gonna barf," she said. "I know the old man's got better stuff in there. Just need to have his back turned long enough to get it."

"Come on, the last thing we need is an angry doctor demanding who took his medicine," I half joked. "And please he's not that old."

"I know, but he sure acts like it," Yuffie was kind of right; Dr. Dawkins didn't look old, probably about thirty or so, but his hair was white as could be. If his eyebrows and lashes weren't as white as his hair you would have just assumed he was bleaching it to within an inch of its life. We rounded a corner and nodded to some sailors passing. "How much longer until we're off this damn boat anyway?"

"I think we get there tomorrow evening?" I guessed, trying to recall a conversation I'd heard earlier in the week. "We're crossing continents after all."

"And you _like_ all this travelling crap?"

"I've always done it. By foot, chocobo, boat, airship... I like it," I said. "I don't like being in the one place for too long, or having nothing to do it's... I get really frustrated with a quiet life."

"So you go looking for trouble?" Yuffie was smirking underneath her helmet, I knew it.

"Oh hi pot, I'm kettle," I replied with mock annoyance. At least talking took Yuffie's mind of being ill but no doubt she was going to still be feeling it. I suggested she try keep herself distracted since if she thought about it she would feel worse to the point of probably being sick. She hated the sea air, and kept claiming it made her feel even worse, so we split off and I went out the lower decks and up top, loving the smell of sea salt as I stepped out.

It was a world away from the boats I was used to. Actually this one reminded me more of the Al Bhed salvage ships than the transport ones across the islands and mainland. It was still fantastic to be one a ship again, though I was partly still disappointed we weren't on the airship. How quickly we could have gotten about the place if we'd gotten a hold of it for ourselves.

I kept my patrol routine when I was up top, passing glances underneath my helmet, not exactly sure who was who underneath. Cloud was the worst; he blended right in with the soldiers. Tifa and Aerith's uniforms were slightly baggy so I could pick them out, and Angel was easy to spot but she had little interaction with us that I wouldn't be surprised if she bailed the second we hit land. Not that I'd miss her anyway.

The patrol went on as normal and, after some time, I was on my break. I tried to stay alert for any other soldiers or Turks. I wasn't sure when the others would be on break or if I'd catch them before nightfall.

I was thrown out my thoughts when an alarm blared through the ship. I shot up and listened to the emergency: stowaway on board and an immediate search to be underway. I put my helmet back on and immediately headed for the deck and to the meeting point we agreed on in case of an emergency.

The meeting point was up top, at the far rear of the ship. It was out of the way, mostly, with a good vantage of the rest of the ship and an already pre-planned escape route. I was already thinking the worst: that the Turks had spotted Aerith and had taken her into custody. I was already running through potential scenarios and ways to counteract them as I reached the meeting point.

After a few minutes the others pooled in. I did a quick headcount and... there was no one short?

"Helmets off," Cloud said and removed his. We all followed suit and both Cloud and I headcounted again. Cloud, myself, Aerith, Tifa, Yuffie, Nanaki, Barrett, even Angel adhered to the rules we'd established. "We're all here."

"Then..." Aerith looked to Cloud. "You don't think the stowaway is..." He was thinking the exact same thing. We all were now.

"Sephiroth," he nodded. "Right. We need to locate him and be sure it's really Sephiroth."

"Um, nuh-uh!" Yuffie shook her head vigorously. "No _way_ am I going to look for Sephiroth. Especially when I'm... uuhhh." She looked even paler than before. I looked to Cloud.

"Fine. Stay here if you want," Cloud said to her, a little more harshly than I liked. I gave him a look and he shrugged. "We need to confirm if it's Sephiroth."

"Then take a small team. Better than everyone's neck getting risked right now," I argued.

"I'll stay with Yuffie," Aerith offered.

"I'm concerned that I'm already arousing suspicion," Nanaki added.

"Okay, so you three stay here. Unless anyone else wants to join them, we should get going," Cloud said. We followed him to scan the ship topside, noticing that there were only a handful of sailors there and no Shinra staff. Cloud indicated to the room that had been sealed off with metal shutters. "Rufus Shinra is in there. We probably should stay clear on there in case the Turks come out.

"Agreed," I nodded, not looking forward to the idea of getting caught by Turks again. As we searched the top quickly I was actually surprised Angel was joining us, and not buggering off to wherever. "Why are you so interested all of a sudden."

"I need to confirm it's Sephiroth and that's my own business," she replied coolly. I shrugged and left it there. When we confirmed the top was clear we headed downstairs to continue the search.

* * *

Inside the ship was... almost a repeat of Shinra building, if not worse. Blood painted the walls and floor, boxes were topped with bodies of ship staff and Shinra soldiers. Bullet holes were sprayed wildly, as though trying to keep up with whatever killed them. Whatever it was it was fast, it was deadly, and it left a trail of blood heading lower into the ship.

As we followed it down we heard gasping and went on guard as we approached. It could be a trap left out for us, we weren't sure. When we got closer we could hear a quiet, calm, reassuring voice, but we still remained on guard as we arrived, seeing a soldier dying, coughing up blood. Dr. Dawkins was with him, using what looked like healing magic on him. I didn't realise medical professionals carried materia but, when I thought about it, it made sense.

"Slow breaths, not shallow or rapid, you can't expend your energy right now," he was saying as we approached. "Focus on me, listen to my voice. You need to remain awake, you can't fall asleep, just stay with me." He was solely focused on keeping the one person alive. As I scanned the room I noticed the bodies littered about the place. It was a massacre. I was amazed that he'd managed to remain alive and unharmed. His clothes and hands were covered in blood, presumably from the soldiers he was trying to save. "No. Listen to me, you need to stay awake. Listen to my voice do _not_..." Dr. Dawkins sighed heavily, moving from the soldier and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fuck, _fuck. Fuck it all_!" He exclaimed. He then stood and directed his attention to us, his head snapping up so quickly I thought he'd gotten whiplash. He stared us down and remained silent. The stand off was eventually broken by Cloud.

"Did the stowaway pass through here?" He asked.

"Obviously, as if this slaughterhouse wasn't _enough_ indication," Dawkins spoke with a bite, one of frustration and he was sorely losing patience. "I won't let you go down there, however."

"We need to locate and stowaway and contain-"

"You'll do _no_ such thing," Dawkins bit again, talking fast to shoot Cloud down. "I can't let you go down there and allow yourselves to be needlessly murdered. I've already followed the trail of bodies to here and I refuse to let more people die."

"Are there more people down there?" I asked. The doctor did seem incredibly conflicted and began shifting his weight back and forth as though he'd start pacing but he remained stuck to the one spot.

"I'm not entirely sure. Most likely. He's heading for the engine room," he answered. "I know I need to go down there but I can't allow you to follow; too many have died and I cannot allow any more needless slaughter." He looked at us. "You will all remain here whilst I search the engine room for survivors. Don't let any one else pass."

"Wait, are you crazy? What if you get killed?" Tifa called to try stop him but Dawkins was already gone, heading to the engine room. We tried to follow him but he heard us and immediately whipped around, hand outstretched, ice pouring out and forming a barricade.

"Stay. Put." He ordered and left.

"Crazy son of a bitch is going to get killed," Barrett said and aimed his gun arm. "Move out the way!" He fired into the ice and started to crack it. Angel gave a hand and blasted it with fire, the combined effort giving us a way through. We ran after Dawkins to the engine room, noting that he was surprisingly fast.

* * *

When we got there the scene was the same: bodies and blood everywhere. Dawkins was hiding behind a piece of machinery, checking for any signs of movement further down the room. We hid behind other parts with him. He didn't seem very thrilled at the company.

"I swear, does Shinra beat the self-preservation from you?" He muttered and pushed up his glasses. "I suppose, since you're all here, you can help. Watch my six." He emerged from cover and headed down, keeping low and eyes peeled. We followed at a distance, keeping our eyes and ear peeled for any signs of the stowaway. There seemed to be no one here... no one alive anyway. It still didn't strip away the unease I felt... I honestly felt like we were being watched.

"After a long sleep..." every single one of us went on high alert when we heard the voice. It was a deep, smooth, almost haunting voice. To me it did sound oddly familiar but I couldn't place it. "... the time... has come..." It felt like the voice was coming from everywhere in the room. We couldn't pin it's location. Turns out we didn't have to.

Cloud was the first of us to whip around and face him. The second we all had our backs turned was when he appeared. A tall man wearing all black, silver hair cascading down his back, skin eerily pale, eyes glowing with a horrid, haunting gaze that held no emotion, held nothing in fact.

"Sephiroth!" Cloud spoke, rather surprised. If this was Sephiroth then that means he didn't die in Nibelheim. The man stared blankly at Cloud, almost through him.

"... Who... are you?" He asked in a creepy monotone.

"Don't you recognise me?" Cloud asked, then removed his helmet. "It's Cloud."

"Cloud..." Sephiroth repeated. "The time... is now..."

"What are you saying? Be more specific-"

In a blink of an eye we were all on the ground. Sephiroth's movements were on another level. He knocked us all down and left without any effort exerted. We could barely register his movements in the small space of time that it happened.

However, I noticed something else move: a strange tendril sort of... thing. It looked a little like a tentacle to be honest. It writhed and wriggled before darting straight for me, wrapping itself around my neck.

I grabbed at the thing, trying to pry it from my neck as it pressed down on my throat and jugular, cutting off the circulation and my ability to breathe. The more I struggled against it the tighter it became. I felt another set of hands try remove it but it made it worse. I couldn't hear anyone as I focused on trying to get the thing off of me.

As I started feeling dizzy and faint I was jolted back into focus by a cold chill. It was enough to surprise the tentacle into loosening its grasp enough to be pulled off me. Dawkins used his ice magic to freeze it entirely and then moved his attention to me, checking my neck.

"You'll need to remove your helmet for me," he said calmly. I guess I didn't have much choice and complied, allowing him access to examine my neck. "Okay, it doesn't seem too bad. It will leave bruising but that, hopefully, will be the extent of it."

"What the hell _is_ that thing?" Barrett asked, eyeing the frozen tentacle.

"It's a part of Jenova," Angel answered. "We need to destroy it." Before anyone could respond she went for the overkill and burnt it to nothing.

"Well if my suspicions weren't confirmed before, they are now," Dawkins said and folded his arms, scanning over our group. "You aren't just Shinra ground pounders. In fact you aren't even _with_ Shinra."

"Cloud, what do we do?" Tifa asked, glancing over to him and hoping he had a plan. Dawkins chuckled a little and waved a little dismissively.

"If you want to believe it or not, I don't give a damn in the slightest," he said. "I was outsourced by Shinra, so I really have no loyalty to them."

"And you really think we're just going to believe that?" Barrett asked with a challenge in his voice. I thought it would intimidate the doctor just a little but he stood his ground.

"Like I said: you can believe it if you want," he said. "But I need to do my job and treat the ones who were lucky enough to survive. I don't care what you decide to do, but don't interfere with my job." He walked right past us and left the engine room, most likely heading back to the medical bay. We all looked to Cloud for any sort of idea of what we should do next.

"... How come Sephiroth didn't recognise you?" I asked. I still felt a little breathless from Jenova's assault on me but I tried to conceal it as best I could.

Cloud was silent for an uncomfortably long time. His eyes wandered quickly and he blinked, as if trying to organise an answer to a seemingly simple question. The silence continued for what felt like an eternity before the answer was nothing more than a shrug and a few words.

"I'm not sure," he said. "We should get back to the others and keep low and hide. We don't have much longer before we reach land."

Everyone agreed silently and followed him back up to meet the others. I took another glance through the engine room. The bodies, the blood, the scorch mark where Angel decimated the piece of Jenova... I felt as though something was off. I wanted to say I felt uncomfortable at the immense strength Sephiroth displayed, and I was, but that wasn't it. I couldn't put my finger on it now but... maybe one day. Hopefully soon.


	19. Doctor's Offers

Doctor's Offers

It was pretty dark by the time we arrived in Costa Del Sol. It felt warmer than most places but still pretty cold for the winter. We hurried off the ship when the remaining crew were organising cargo, shed the uniforms and headed to the nearby inn. Cloud said we should wait until morning to head out. Personally I would have preferred to gain as much distance between us and them as soon as possible but we did need supplies and a lead as to where Sephiroth went. This time we couldn't rely on an anonymous tip to take us in the right direction.

We were hanging around the room for about half an hour or so before I was getting bored in the room. I was sharing with Yuffie in the smaller room while Aerith, Angel, and Tifa took the bigger one, with Cloud, Barret, and Nanaki taking the remaining room. We'd all congregated in the largest room to discuss our next move but I was starting to get fed up that we hadn't decided on where we should go.

"I'm still open for trying to listen in for rumours," I suggested, again, even though I knew why the group wanted to be careful. We were essentially bumping shoulder with Shinra still and some of us were still worried that the doctor had informed Rufus of Avalanche hitching a ride across the ocean with him.

"It's still to risky right now," Cloud answered, again. I gave a sigh and adjusted my position on the bed. I went on to stare at the map we had.

"We should just head to Nibelheim," Angel spoke firmly and pointed to its position on the map.

"What's left of it..." Tifa sighed. I did remember Angel saying she would travel as far as Nibelheim with us. Sephiroth burned down Nibelheim five years ago. I thought back to five years ago, on Spira... Sin always returned for its spawn. Maybe a similar thing applied here?

"Angel might be on to something," I said, looking around the team. "Cloud, you said that Sephiroth found things there about the Jenova Project, and Jenova was in the Nibelheim Reactor, right?" A nod of confirmation. "Then what if there's something still there?"

"If Nibelheim was burned, the mansion may have went with it," Angel said. "But the underground lab will still be there, including everything Sephiroth found inside. You might be right; he might be going back there for something."

"Makes two of you," I remarked. Angel didn't even respond. "So what's the best way to get to Nibelheim on foot?"

"Through the mountain passes," Barrett said and pointed to the nearby range. "Mt. Corel is nearby, then we'd have to cross the Corel desert." I noted the tone change in Barrett's voice but decided against saying anything.

"You'll have to pass through Cosmo Canyon before you reach Nibelheim," Nanaki added. "Unfortunately I won't be joining you after that."

"You said that's where you're from, right?" I asked with a nod in return for confirmation.

"Right. We'll head to Nibelheim unless we hear anything about Sephiroth headed elsewhere," Cloud decided. "We should get a couple of hours sleep before morning hits." Least that was something we could agree on. Well, almost...

As Yuffie and I got back to our room she flopped onto her bed, then sprung back up into a sitting position.

"Ugh, I'm not ever tired, you know that?" She groaned as I went into my own bed. I had the feeling I wouldn't be getting much sleep myself if Yuffie was active. "And everyone's in such a weird mood, like, you can tell right?"

"Trust me, after what we saw in the engine room... it's understandable," I told her, putting a hand to my neck. The feeling of that tendril trying to choke the life out of me was still in the forefront of my mind. "You didn't even want to go."

"Well, duh, I've seen what Sephiroth can do," she replied, her eyes shifting away uncomfortably. "I mean, well, you know him and Shinra pretty much stomped all over Wutai during the war..."

"Yeah..." I nodded, not sure what to say or add. I didn't know much about a war between Shinra and Wutai. I was tired but still didn't want to slip up. "How bad is Wutai now?"

"Total shell of what it used to be," Yuffie shrugged. "And just in such a short space of time... it sucks." She went silent and sighed. I knew she wasn't willing to divulge more.

"Well, we'll give Shinra what's coming to them, believe me," I assured her. I wanted to add that I had a good track record for taking down world organisations but I was trying to not draw suspicion to myself. "Try get a bit of sleep, Yuffie, you'll feel better for it."

* * *

I was worried I had slept in when I just woke with a start, like my body just forced me awake. I rolled out of bed and got myself ready, realising Yuffie was already out the room. I thought she would have woke me, or maybe she didn't manage to get any sleep and left during the night. I grabbed all my stuff and headed down to the front desk.

I didn't meet anyone at the front desk which, honestly, made me glad considering I wasn't going to be met with an annoyed group. I looked at the clock and it was just after half seven in the morning. The sun was only just starting to come up. So then where was everyone. I headed to the front desk and asked if anyone else from my group was awake.

"Two women from your party left the inn maybe about half an hour ago, then another one fifteen minutes ago," the woman said. I gave a nod and shifted my bag on my shoulder. "Feel free to wait in the restaurant, breakfast is being served. I'll inform the rest of your party when they come down."

"Thanks," I nodded and headed off.

The place was fairly quiet, I didn't suppose a lot of people would want to get up this early for breakfast unless they had to. I did a quick glance around when someone caught my attention. He was watching me, waiting for me to make eye contact. He was sitting by himself and motioned me to come over. I was suspicious and glanced around before walking over to him.

"I never realised you were staying here as well," Dawkins said and offered a seat. "Are you having anything? I can get you something, if you want."

"I'll get my own stuff, thanks," I said and went over to get some fruit tea. When I came back I sat down across from him. He was very relaxed compared to when I last saw him on the ship. He was out of the medical uniform and dressed far more casually, intending for travel it looked like. "So what do you want?"

"Am I that suspect looking?" He asked, giving me a quick glance and knowing the answer. "Fair enough, we didn't meet under the best of circumstances. I'm actually looking for some assistance. Your group... on the off chance you aren't heading in the direction of Rocket Town, are you?"

I remember Rocket Town on the map... it was past Nibelheim. Past the mountain range anyway.

"Why?"

"It's where I live. Shinra could only afford me the luxury of fast transport to the ceremony. I have to make my own way back," Dawkins said. "I wouldn't be in this predicament if they damn well fixed the Highwind but I couldn't be lucky in that regard. There's safety in numbers, Shinra couldn't afford to spare some ground pounders, your team doesn't appear to be affiliated with Shinra... basically I just want to get home without the risk of being torn to shreds. I don't expect your group to do this for free; I will pay you, in cash, when we reach Rocket Town, and I will also offer my medical expertise for the duration of the trip."

"We're not exactly... the most ideal group to travel with," I replied, taking a quick look over my shoulder. I don't think anyone was listening to our conversation and the others hadn't appeared yet.

"I won't beat around the bush: I know you're Avalanche," he spoke bluntly. "All personnel were given descriptions of you and your team in case you were spotted in Junon. Except for the girl from Wutai, I assumed she joined your team after you left Midgar. I don't have much love or loyalty to Shinra so I purposefully kept quiet. You understand I'm saying all this to ease the tensions and gain some trust, yeah?" He was watching my facial expressions with interest, getting a pretty good read of me as he spoke. He could have been saying anything to gain our trust. "My contract with Shinra was terminated early and all I'd like to do now is return home. I'm being as open as possible with you to avoid any conflict or confusion about my motives; I have none. Of course all of this is null and void if you're not even intending to go top Rocket Town, in which case I'd like to travel with you until we need to split ways."

"There's something else, isn't there?" I asked. His expressions didn't change and he remained relaxed and his eye contact remained steady. "You just want to go home so you decide to try and hire the people on Shinra's most wanted list?"

"Well, you have me there," he said, pushing his glasses up slightly. "I can understand why you're wary and, honestly, you're not an idiot. My interests in travelling with your group are solely personal and for my own benefit; yes, I do want to return to Rocket Town but as we're travelling I was hoping to figure out about your marks."

I squinted at him in questioning. The way he spoke obviously didn't mean he was talking about my burn scars. I couldn't think of any other marks he could be meaning though.

"And by marks, you mean...?" I asked. He was being pretty straight-forward with me so far and with any luck that would continue.

"You've had more than a few close encounters with death, and death himself, in your life," Dawkins said. "You've been saved from death and that leaves a mark, marks I recognise. Not only that, it's been more than once. Now my sister, I can hazard a guess at her participation, I'm curious about why Oblivion would personally intervene to save your life."

I suddenly became far more alert at the mention of Oblivion's name. I hadn't seen or heard from him in five years but I always knew there'd be a time he'd re-enter my life. Now that I'd travelled to a different world I always had his return in the back of my mind, especially if Angel was here. I just wasn't expecting someone else to know of him. I could only hope, for once, he didn't consider Oblivion an enemy.

"How do you know him?"

"He was my former employer," Dawkins said, rather matter-of-factly. "As was my sister. We both resigned but I can see Oblivion still sought Meredith out for work. I haven't seen her in years, how's she been?"

"I don't know anyone called Meredith," I said. His face dropped a little and he frowned, disappointed in my answer.

"Worth a shot but, considering the condition you would have been in at the time... bit stupid for me to ask, I'm sorry."

"Is it to do with the Superiors that you haven't seen her? That you both resigned?"

"Essentially, yes," Dawkins nodded solemnly. "Sorry, it is a little too personal for me to talk about. Slightly hypocritical since I've mentioning your deaths. Still, Meredith's a grown woman, if something had happened to her I'd know by now. It was a bit much to hope that you'd seen her."

"What are you doing?" The two of us looked over to Cloud, who had walked over to the table. I looked over my shoulder, seeing everyone else hanging back. I looked back at Cloud, then to Dawkins, then back to Cloud.

"He was asking for an escort to Rocket Town," I answered.

"We're not going that far."

"Then how about we go our separate ways once you go as far as you need to?" Dawkins offered. "As I've said to your friend I will pay in cash and offer medical assistance to the team if required. The other option is to awkwardly run into me every so often since we will be travelling on foot." I looked back to Cloud and he gestured me over to the side. I followed him to be just out of earshot of Dawkins and folded my arms, still deliberating on the matter myself.

"What do you think?" Cloud asked.

I shrugged and glanced over to Dawkins and then to Cloud. If he knew Oblivion and had worked for him then... well honestly I wasn't sure. He could be an ally or an enemy; at this point it could go either way. My experience with people knowing Oblivion didn't make me immediately trustworthy of them; Andra was different she was an outside party. Still if it is one of Oblivion's former employees...

I thought hard, racking my brains of everything I knew and the things Andra told me. Unfortunately not a lot of it was relevant to Death who worked for them. I looked to Cloud and went with my gut.

"He seems genuine," I said. "If anything happens I'll deal with it. Besides someone with medical experience wouldn't hurt."

"He _was_ working for Shinra, though," Cloud replied while remaining sceptical.

"You were in Soldier, so did you," I shrugged. "Like I said I'll take the blame if anything happens. Really, though, I think we should take his offer." Cloud continued to stare at me, though I could his eyes flicking and debating over whether or not he should take my suggestion. Part of me felt a little selfish in trying to convince him to get Dawkins to join since it was, in part, out of curiosity on what he knew and if there was any deeper motive in him wanting to join. A small part of me wanted to think he was still working covertly for Oblivion but I couldn't be sure. In either case I felt like I needed to know.

"Okay. He can come with us," Cloud finally said. "Just keep to your word."

"Always do," I nodded. The two of us returned to Dawkins' table and he put his phone away once he noticed us arriving.

"You were taking your time, so I was phoning a friend back home," he said. "Anyway, what's the verdict?"

"We're accepting your help," Cloud said. "We'll take you as far towards Rocket Town as we're able to."

"And in return I'll pay for your services and offer my own along the way," Dawkins stood and extended his hand towards Cloud. After they shook he copied the gesture with me. "We should properly introduce ourselves: Dr. Oswin Dawkins, or Os for quickness."

"Cloud Strife. This is Christie Wilson," Cloud returned. We then returned to the group and began to explain the situation quickly as I noticed Aerith and Angel both returning to the inn.

After explaining the situation to the others, something there were a few objections to, it was firmly established that Oswin would be joining us. While getting everyone up to speed and confirming our travel route Aerith added in a few details of her and Angel's meeting with Hojo, a surprising event in itself, and his suggestion of heading west.

West, most likely to Nibelheim. There was definitely something in the ruins of that town and all roads were leading to it.


	20. Nevina: Digging Deeper

Digging Deeper

"Dad, will you-... Dad just take a deep breath, centre yourself. I know you're worried but I'm being careful," I got myself into my apartment and dropped my bag on the floor, turning and locking everything up before pulling off my jacket.

"Nevina they could be listening to you right now," my dad was, understandably, worrying about my situation. I was worried he was getting himself too worked up but, parents are parents, I'd be worried if he wasn't.

"My phone's a secure line, I'd made sure of that," I insisted. I'd opted to leave out the fact that Reno had confronted me over looking at the Nibelheim files a few days back. That was worry they didn't need. Annoying since they could sense someone being hidden from them but couldn't pry. "Look, I thought I'd just tell you what happened that night. It'd been bothering me and, you know, maybe nothing will come of it."

"Sweetheart you can't be certain of that," Dad continued. I sighed and walked to my kitchen to put my kettle on. "Anything to do with Shinra, Soldier, Turks... you know you can't just walk away from that." I sighed again, knowing where this was going. "I know you made your choice, and I respect that, but-"

"Dad, don't," I weakly pleaded. "It's... it's nearly been a year. Nothing has happened since then, except this... unknown. I know he's not Soldier, I don't know what he gained from lying to his team like that but it felt odd that they would appear in the middle of a night, during my shift, and suddenly he knows things of Shinra when he wasn't First Class."

"What about the woman you said was with him?"

"She didn't say anything... she didn't recognise me either so, I dunno," I shrugged. "Dad can you Mum on the phone before I go? I'll need to make something to eat soon I'm starving."

"Okay sweetheart but... just be careful, okay? I love you."

"Love you too, bye," I heard shuffling and the phone exchange hands.

"Hi darling," Mum said.

"Hey. Sorry about worrying the two of you. I just thought the situation was odd and, well, you were already picking up on it," I said.

"You're our little girl, no matter how old you get. Of course we'll worry and we'll always worry about this situation," I nodded absently at her words. "We'll try not to be broken records over it; you know how we feel about the entire situation."

"I know what I got myself into, Mum," I felt like a broken record on the matter, too, but they needed the reassurance. "I'll be fine, okay? I need to go but I'll talk to you later, okay? Love you."

"Love you too, Nevi," I hung up and put my phone on the counter, quickly glancing to see if anyone had tried to message me but there was nothing. I made myself something quick to tide me over and headed to my laptop, popping in the memory stick I had taken from my pocket, heading to check the news about the ceremony in Junon since I'd missed it. I watched some footage and everything looked all shiny and lovely on the surface despite the rumours circulating about the people in cloaks and the damage the main Midgar building has suffered.

While I caught up with the newsfeed, in the background of my laptop, it was downloading more files. I clicked back and forth from windows to check it was loading and, as soon as it finished, I moved it over into the memory stick and deleted it from the laptop's drive, clearing any traces of my access, and closing my back door. I checked to see if there was any updates on Sephiroth's whereabouts, or the group Avalanche. No finalised reports but rough outlines of the scenario: eyewitness accounts and a number of squads who went to investigate where killed. There was a map of the attacks and their times to see if there was a pattern. All in the upper city, crossing from one end to the other and ending at the harbour. All of this seemed to happen around the time of the ceremony but stopping an hour or so before Rufus Shinra boarded the ship and set out for Costa Del Sol. There were zero sighting of Avalanche in the city. I also spotted a footnote regarding Hojo's resignation shortly after President Shinra's death and a possible connection. I frowned, knowing the possibility of Hojo's involvement was almost absolutely certain.

After reading through the updates I closed the file, moving into another folder, slowly looking through its contents. Nothing directly regarding current events but it still centred me somewhat. That's what I needed to do, just ground myself. I knew right now I'd be grasping at straws and the bigger picture hadn't been brought to light yet but I had to know what was happening. I'd went this far, anyway.

My main problem was that my resources were limited. I'd managed to work around the authorities before but back then I had support. As Reno said the Turks could only cover me for so long. I could almost see the exact path laid out before me, just as before, and was already coming to terms with how it would be. Some things, I knew, would happen whether I wanted them to or not, such is life.

Ideally for answers I would have to go to Nibelheim, right to the source of the experiments. I knew I'd get a clearer answer there but I couldn't just up and book a trip to the next continent over without arousing suspicion and running into Shinra. Another part of me wanted to go to Banora but I knew it would only upset me to go there. I sighed to myself and looked around my apartment. I was at a complete loss as to what I should do. The sensible thing would be to wait, take a breath, and watch how things unfold then act accordingly.

After I finished eating and tidied up I decided to settle down for the night. I knew that the best thing to do was to put this on the back burner since there was no point in letting this upset or frustrate me. I'd have to play the waiting game for now, wait for more information, wait for an opportunity to present itself. I'd watched others play the waiting game, their anxiety and their stresses being pushed down as they focused on their goal. I've had to be the one to talk and soothe the worries of those around me, be the support they needed to go on. Now I was by myself because we were all walking on thin ice.

I checked to see if any old films were on the TV. There was little point in worrying about things before my control. I may not know what I can do yet but I'll figure it out.

* * *

 **Sorry this has been on a long hiatus I'm trying to get back into the swing of things after having a kind of rough time recently, but still sorry for people following I do feel bad.**


	21. The Road Ahead

The Road Ahead

The air had gotten a lot colder since we had left Costa del Sol. We started heading out on the path leading towards the mountain trails through Corel. I'd already been feeling a bit of tension since we'd left although, thankfully, it hadn't gotten any worse. Barrett remained fairly silent over the decision that we head through to Corel and we'd taken note of it, yet said nothing.

The other point of tension was Oswin. He himself wasn't causing any unease, not intentionally anyway. He was friendly enough, he was being very approachable and open to anyone who wanted to talk to him. Admittedly that wasn't very many of the group, so he would approach them. Most were short, brief talks, where he would note a discomfort and back off. I thought that's probably where much of the tension stemmed; he was being _too_ approachable and _too_ friendly. All they knew was that he was a doctor under employ of Shinra. I knew that, too, and the fact that he was previously employed by Oblivion.

It had been a couple of days since we had reached the mountains and this morning we began our hike across the trail. It was a fairly well used path that would take us right through to Corel. I'd not mentioned it to the others but I'd felt an odd ringing in my ears since we had headed out of town. Maybe ringing wasn't the best way to describe it.

Even as it was getting colder I noted that Oswin dressed more casually for the weather and much differently from his professional attire. A purple plaid flannel shirt hung loose over a light grey top, darker grey cargo trousers and black combat-esque boots to go. Attire wise he did seem pretty prepared for a long journey but it still made me wonder why he wasn't taking the chill as badly as the others. Yuffie, for instance, wasn't really happy with the temperature drop.

Yuffie really wasn't taking to Oswin. Actually she wasn't talking to him at all. She wouldn't even give him the time of day. She had also made the decision to ignore me, although now she had been easing off the silent treatment as we made the ascent.

"Ugh why does it have to be so cold?" She whined to no one in particular. We were both hanging at the back of the group; I was checking our backs for anyone following.

"Probably because it's winter," I replied.

"Okay, smartass," she responded with a roll of her eyes. I sighed and rolled mine as well.

"You know, in my experience, talking about why you're pissed off is better than bottling it, or being passive aggressive," I told her, briefly thinking about the conflict between New Yevon and the Youth League. Of course that was a larger, and more political, scale, but it was still something that was solved through discussion. And Yuna's influence.

"Nah, I'm good," was my answer. I sighed and shook my head.

"Are you really pissed at me for letting Oswin join?" I asked.

"Uh, yeah," Yuffie said with the sass dripping off her tongue. "He's Shinra. You know, the bad guys we're fighting against. How can you be so cool with that?"

"It's not the best of circumstances, but I am taking responsibility if things go south," I replied. "I wouldn't have done it if I didn't have a good feeling."

"So you've got a good feeling on this guy?" She asked, all the while clearly not believing me.

"You know yourself; trust your intuition. It's rarely wrong," I said. "My intuition is saying that he's genuine, and that he doesn't have any loyalty to Shinra. If that turns out to be wrong, that's on me."

"You betcha it is," Yuffie adjusted the bag on her shoulder. "It's annoying that you think he's not with Shinra."

"Well we took your word when you said the same," I couldn't help but smile slightly when she couldn't come back with a remark because, well, I was right. "Believe me, it'll be fine."

I looked ahead at the rest of the group, everyone in smaller groups having chats or keeping themselves to themselves. Cloud and Angel were up the front having a stilted conversation. Barrett and Oswin were both keeping quiet and Tifa, Aerith, and Nanaki talking amongst themselves while Yuffie and I talked. I didn't want to intrude on the conversations but I wondered what they talked about. I couldn't fully hear them; the ringing was getting worse, far worse.

It was becoming something more understandable though. Wooshes of air, loud like gusts, settling down and rising again. I was starting to make out other noises but I was straining to make any sense of it. They all started to congeal into the one mass of noise that I couldn't understand. It was constant and persistent. I closed my eyes, hoping it would ease off, but it only made it worse. It was like a migraine. My head was close to bursting. It'd come on so suddenly I wasn't sure what was happening. I breathed in and pressed a hand to my temple. I could hear someone asking me questions and I was focusing on it, trying to make out what they were saying. It was... familiar. I recognised that voice.

"Christie," I felt a hand on my arm and I opened my eyes. Tifa was right in front of me. I looked around the group, who'd all stopped to look at me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine," I nodded. "Just... just my..." I motioned to my head.

"Do you feel nauseous at all?" Oswin asked. I shook my head. "How about dizziness?"

"No, no nothing like that just..." I couldn't describe it. My head was killing me but it wasn't just that otherwise I'd not make a deal of it.

"Cloud," Aerith spoke up. "I think we should rest for a bit for Christie's sake."

"No I'm fine," I tried to say but Aerith shook her head.

"No, it's okay," she told me before looking back to Cloud. "An hour should do it. Please?"

A pause of thought.

"Okay, we could probably use a break," Cloud said. Aerith came over to me and took me aside to sit by some trees just off the path. She opened a flask of water and handed it to me.

"It's a little overwhelming, I know," she said as I took a drink. I furrowed my brow and knew what she meant immediately.

"The Planet?" A nod of confirmation. "Is it normally this bad?"

"It's a lot more than what I was used to back in the church," Aerith nodded. "But the first time I heard it there it was like that: my head was close to bursting and I couldn't understand what was happening. I've been hearing the Planet a lot more since we left Midgar."

"Does it not kill your head?" I asked.

"Sometimes, but it's like white noise now," she said. "It gets easier to work with over time. You can close your mind off to it so it doesn't swamp you at every turn. Some voices can break through to you, though."

"Like your birth mother?" I said. Aerith nodded and I turned my head and leant against the tree. I didn't say anything I just... I just started thinking.

I thought about Spira, the Farplane, the Summoners, and the Sendings. I thought that some of that knowledge could apply to my apparent Cetra abilities. If these people really descended from those of Spira then it would make sense that it would. It was still odd that I was considered a Cetra, or an Ancient, and I hadn't really given myself time to fully think about it or talk to Aerith about the whole thing. Perhaps there was some residual knowledge from Spira that would help me understand the Cetra and their abilities and hopefully archives that would further elaborate on their history; the history of this Planet.

I thought about the Lifestream and how it was the voices of the dead trying to speak to Aerith and I, far different from the Farplane and the way Pyreflies worked. Pyreflies would react to the memories of the living, bringing projections of the dead for us to speak to but couldn't speak back. The Lifestream was the dead trying to speak to the living, trying to tell us something. It felt vaguely similar to the Unsent but, if they were already part of the Planet, it meant that they had already accepted their fates and moved on from the realm of the living. Enough of their conscious being was preserved there, enough to be aware and try to speak to us for whatever purpose. I couldn't make out the words but, in time, maybe I could understand what they were trying to say.

"You hear your mother now?" I eventually asked when I came out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, over everyone else," Aerith nodded. "She told me to be wary of what Hojo said, not long after we left Costa del Sol. He's only after his own interests." She shifted her weight, thinking about her next words. "I don't have any good memories of him but she remembered more than I did."

"You knew Hojo?"

"He... kidnapped my birth mother and I. We were trapped in Shinra Headquarters until I was seven," Aerith began. "My mother carefully planned how to escape, where to hide, where we should go once we left Midgar. She wanted to go back to the Icicle Inn in the north but was scared it wasn't safe. I don't know where exactly she planned to go when we escaped. I never got the chance to ask. She got injured during the escape... and she died in the Sector Seven Slums."

"I'm sorry," I said. It was really all I could think to say. "Is that when your adopted mother found you?"

"Yeah, she was waiting for her husband returning from the war," she said. "My birth mother asked her to take care of me, and she did. She kept me safe and treated me like her own daughter."

"Does she know that you're an Ancient?"

"Yeah, she always knew."

"What did they do with her body- uh, your birth mother's body... what was her name?"

"My birth mother was Ifalna. Elmyra is my adoptive mother," Aerith clarified. "I... don't actually know what they did to her. The only thing I have left from her is this." She reached into her hair and, from the ribbon, showed me a beautiful white orb. I stared at it in awe, seeing a green iridescence through it as the light bounced off its surface. "This was Ifalna's materia. She had it her whole life then she gave it to me. She told me to keep it with me always."

"What does it do?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing," was the honest answer. Aerith laughed slightly and placed it back securely in her hair. "I've never been able to use it no matter how much I've tried. But it was important to her, and I like having it with me."

"Good enough reason as any," I agreed. I couldn't say much since I had the silver orb that contained a portion of Angel's power. I didn't know how to use that, or if I even could. Mostly likely only she could use it and I wasn't exactly willing to give her it. In fact she'd not even mentioned it. Perhaps she'd forgotten, maybe not. I didn't want to bring it up. Not until Nibelheim at the very least.

I blinked and sat up a little straighter. My brow furrowed. The voices had lessened.

"Talking takes your mind off things, doesn't it?" Aerith smiled. I laughed slightly and smiled back. "It'll come and go but when we set up camp tonight I'll show you some ways I handle it."

"Sounds like a plan," I nodded. "Hey Aerith, do you think we'll be able to find any records of the Cetra?"

"I'd hope so," she said. "Shinra have been interested in the Ancients for years, so I can't imagine there wouldn't be other studies or records." She looked out at the group and gave a small sigh. "Well, there's no point just wondering. When we can, we should look and ask. That's the only way we'll find answers."

"Yeah, you're right," I look out at the group with her. I didn't really want to think about too much else at that moment. I wanted to rest before we set out again so I was ready for anything, physically and mentally. I had a lot of questions and a long way to go before I had all the answers. At that moment I needed to have a break before going forward. I didn't want to burn myself out or I'd be good to no one.


End file.
